Glee: The Next Generation
by TheGleekGal
Summary: It's the year 2034! Join music teacher Marley, Daniel Schuester, Beth Corcoran, Melody and Anthony Evans, and the new generation of gleeks as they try to retrieve the former glory of the New Directions that their parents had made. Will they be as successful as the previous generation and possibly prevail? Or fail trying? (SYOC Closed, A bit AU)
1. A New Dream

**Hello! It's TheGleekGal here! Here's my first SYOC and I hope you all like it! I've seen a few around during my short time on Fanfiction and I figured I'd give it a go! More info on the SYOC can be found at the bottom, get to reading! :D**

**PLEASE DO NOT POST CHARACTERS IN THE REVIEWS!**

**P.S: I do not own any of the songs that are to be featured in the fanfic, they belong to their rightful owners! I also do not own Glee or anything that's related to Glee.**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a bit AU from canon, you've been warned!**

**That is all...**

* * *

**Glee: The Next Generation**

"Last box!" A proud, handsome blond man in the brink of his 30's yelled, carrying a cardboard box that was labeled "DISHES" over his shoulder.

"Sam, be careful!" His beautiful African-American wife, Mercedes Evans (nee Jones), wished as he power walked through the living room and to the dining room to safely place it on the table. After doing the task as requested, he approached her in the kitchen with a sweet peck on the lips, their hands enveloping one another.

During mid-June, the interracial couple had just moved back to one place they called home: Lima, Ohio. A decent-sized town where everyone knew everyone and news flew fast. Whether or not that was a pro or con depended on the person and the situation at hand.

As the term, "high school sweethearts", said, Sam and Mercedes became involved with one another toward the end of their sophomore and junior year of high-school, respectively. But the relationship wasn't perfect and came with its own bumps and obstacles like every relationship did. That didn't mean the two didn't love each other any less.

"Where's Melody and Anthony?" Sam asked, concerned as to where the location of his two children were.

"Upstairs packing in their room."

"Well the least they could do is help us down here too!" Sam suggested while approaching the bottom of the stairs. "Melody! Anthony! Get down here!"

Within seconds both Melody and Anthony Evans walked down the stairs after hearing their father yell their names, Melody marching down a bit more reluctantly than her younger brother.

"Help your mother pack!" He demanded, pointing at all of the boxes in the dining room, the kitchen, and the living room.

Without blinking twice or questioning the demand, both Melody and Anthony helped get everything situated by unpacking the boxes filled with items such as family photos, a few vases and other smaller pieces of furniture, and the two or three pillows for the sofas.

A minute later and both Melody and Anthony were helping their parents get the pots, plates, pans, and other cooking and kitchen ornaments placed correctly.

"Tomorrow, we have to go to William McKinley to get you guys registered!" An over-enthused Mercedes exclaimed, passing Sam a few dishes to reach on the highest shelf of the cabinets.

"Yay." Melody sarcastically replied in a monotone voice, rolling her pretty green eyes.

"Don't sass me!" Mercedes immediately told her daughter, pointing at her from the other side of the kitchen while Anthony silently chuckled. "Maybe if _someone_ behaved better, we would have stayed in New York."

"I doubt it." She murmured only loud enough for her brother standing beside her to hear.

"All of our friends are in New York though!" Anthony reminded.

"What about Kurt and Blaine's kids? You guys use to hang out with them!"

"When we were five and six!" Both Melody and Anthony simultaneously jogged the memory of their mother, Sam laughing at their response. Kurt and Blaine were a gay couple that Sam and Mercedes got know in high-school, thanks to an extra-curricular club known as Glee Club. A small, underdog-esque, show choir who was constantly tortured by the in-crowd with slushies thrown at their faces. They were practically a family who only had each other to rely on. And overtime, that bond grew.

As the gang got older and graduated and moved on with their high-school lives, many of those relationships remained intact, both romantic and platonic. So intact that even when many had kids and families of their own, they held their own type of family reunions to get the old gang back together while many of their kids were still young. However, time flew and everyone just got busier with their own lives.

"Just a thought, they still ask about you." Mercedes stated with a shrug.

"Really?" Melody asked incredulity.

"When they were eight." Mercedes laughed, causing Anthony and Sam to join in while Melody rolled her eyes in more of a playful tone.

"Lima isn't all that bad, look how we turned out!" Sam realized, gesturing to himself then to the mother of his children.

"Back in Lima, Ohio." Melody reminded, this time causing Mercedes and Sam to roll their eyes somewhat playfully.

"We always thought the city wasn't a place to raise kids but we didn't have any other options then." Mercedes began explaining. "But now that I've started my own record label and Sam's got his new arts foundation for Dyslexic kids, we don't have to stay in the city anymore."

"Plus, Lima now is a lot better than it use to be when we were kids." Sam chimed in, Mercedes agreeing with a silent head nod and a high-five.

"If you say so..." Melody stated with uncertainty, looking over at Anthony who only shrugged in response.

* * *

"I've never felt so humiliated in my entire life ever!" A blond young woman by the name of Beth Corcoran complained as she carried a box full of God knows what to one Marley Puckerman's classroom (a.k.a the choir room) the next day for open house. "Words cannot describe how embarrassed I was, Aunt Marley."

Marley Puckerman was her aunt and yet at the same, she wasn't. Marley was married to Beth's half-paternal uncle named Jake, which technically meant that she was Beth's aunt. However, Beth was adopted by a woman named Shelby Corcoran, to whom she considered her actual mother. Beth's biological parents were Quinn and Noah "Puck" Puckerman. At the time, when they were sophomores, the two back-stabbed Quinn's at the time boyfriend and Puck's best friend, Finn Hudson.

And that's how Beth came into this world.

As a little girl, while Quinn was busy and Puck overseas while in the Air Force, both Jake and Marley were asked by Shelby to babysit Beth while they were engaged. During that time together, both Beth and Marley became very close, having a sister-like relationship almost.

"During sophomore year while I had bulimia, I fainted on stage in front of everyone at Sectionals. There's a video on YouTube with a million views and my kids still show it to me from time to time. I think I can relate." The older, brunette woman reminded, Beth cringing as the two finally arrived and sat down the cardboard boxes on the piano.

"Did it make it to the news?"

"There was a small feature about it on WOHN-TV and this guy posted it on his school blog." Marley remembered.

"That's nothing compared to every single newspaper in New York City!" Beth explained. "I literally cried the whole ride here!"

"It's no big deal." Marley shook her head no, placing her right hand on Beth's corresponding shoulder. "Even celebrities forget the lyrics to the National Anthem at the Superbowl."

"But by then, they already had it made. This was opening night on Broadway! My only chance and I choked on my solo!" Beth argued, her eyes getting a little teary.

Marley then pulled the 24 year old woman in for a hug. "Mistakes happen, you're only human." She reminded as Beth continued to sob on her shoulder.

"God, I'm a joke!" Beth mumbled under Marley's cardigan sweater.

"Did you know Rachel choked on her NYADA audition?"

Immediately, Beth pulled away, her eyebrows furrowed at such statement.

"No!" Beth shook her head no, still in awe from the news of her adopted sister.

Marley confirmed by silently nodding. "Yup, she forgot the words to 'Don't Rain On My Parade' then cried on stage."

"Wow!"

"But if anyone asked, you didn't hear it from me!" Marley demanded, walking into her office and cutting on the lights to start prepping.

"Deal." Beth agreed, wiping her puffy-red cheeks dry with her own two hands then rubbing her hands down the legs of her jeans.

"Here's a piece of advice that I give my kids, both students and my actual kids." Marley began as she approached the blonde yet again, holding both of her shoulders as her bright blue eyes stared right into Beth's green eyes. "Everything happens for a reason."

"Even mistakes?"

"Even mistakes!" Marley verified with a smile. "You'll learn from this experience and then in 20 years laugh about it at the Tony Awards."

"One can only hope." Beth wished with a hopeful half-smirk, before going in for yet another hug.

* * *

_"Good morning!"_

_"Hi!"_

_"Hello!"_

These were only a few of the phrases that one William Schuester, former Spanish and History teacher, now principal of William McKinley, repeated to his employees as he and his wife, Emma, and their daughter, Lillian Schuester (better known as Lily) walked through the halls and passed them by.

"Remind me again why you two decided to have open house in the middle of the summer unlike the rest of the schools in the district?" Lily asked with somewhat of a snobby attitude as she carried a cardboard box in her dad's office.

"No one wants to spend the last days of their summer vacation shopping for school supplies! And everyone hates going to open house toward the end of the year!" Will answered.

"In the past several years, the percentage of students with school supplies on the first day have increased because of it." His red-haired wife, Emma Schuester, vice-principal and guidance counselor of William McKinley chimed in.

"Touché." Their daughter muttered in defeat, dropping the box onto her father's desk.

"Where's Daniel?" Emma suddenly noticed, looking around to find that her older son wasn't present.

"Just got out of the bathroom, sorry." He apologized on cue as he entered the office. "Anything else you guys need?"

"You can carry my boxes to my office! But please be careful and if you happen to spill anything on them or drop it in mud then just-"

"I got it, Mom!" Daniel laughed before heading back to the car, interrupting one of her famous nervous rants.

"They grow up so fast! I still can't believe he'll be a junior this year at Ohio State University!" Emma noted.

"Seems like I handed him his diploma only yesterday." Will agreed, patting his wife on the shoulder before wrapping his arm around her while Lily rolled her eyes.

"So are we done here?" Lily asked standing behind her dad's desk.

"Yes, Lily, you can go now." Will agreed to playfully, gesturing to the door.

"Thank God!" Lily exclaimed, strutting to the exit.

"Don't forget your appointment with Mrs. Lynn today!" Emma reminded.

"Mrs. Lynn? Mom, I'm fine!" Lily stopped at the door, pleading her case.

"Lily-"

"No, I am!" Lily interrupted her mother. "I've been eating right, working out, exercising. I even gained eleven pounds, seven of those pounds being gained in all the right places and I'm totally comfortable and hot in this floral sundress." Lily boasted with a smug grin and a shrug.

"You might be healthy on the outside, but what about on the inside?" Emma asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily questioned while crossing her arms, offended.

"Before the 'incident' at the Homecoming game last year you were a social butterfly!" Emma began, air quoting "incident". "Going out everyday, and even on school days despite our wishes, and hanging out with your friends or partying or even going on dates. And now, you barely leave the house."

"I do too leave the house!" Lily argued, her tone raised. "Just last week, I bought these heels!" She pointed at the ground, kicking one foot at a time up off the ground to showcase her black pumps.

"Oh yeah? Who'd you go with?" Emma asked somewhat reluctantly, biting the inside of her bottom lip. Will glanced down at the ground once he saw a tear drop down from one of his daughter's hazel-green eyes.

"By myself." Lily answered, a bit breathy, her voice practically cracking. "I can make new friends!" She argued, raising her tone though with a much weaker voice than before.

"And we know you can. But after that faint spell last year, it could have caused some emotional and psychological scars. We just want to make sure you're-"

"I'm fine!" Lily yelled, this time interrupting her dad. "And I'll be damned if I have to talk about these problems to anyone else besides my family!" She continued, her eyes still tearing up. And apparently, they must have been contagious as her mother's eyes began doing the same.

"...fine." Emma agreed, nodding her head once she saw where her daughter was coming from.

"Really?" Lily asked, surprised as can be.

"Mrs. Lynn has really helped you and you've been so doing well. I'll tell her to cancel the appointment."

"Thank you!" Lily exclaimed in a happy, soft, voice as she ran to hug her parents.

"But if you even think about skipping your next breakfast, you'll be seeing a lot more of Mrs. Lynn!" Emma warned.

"We'll triple the number of appointments and add an extra hour!" Will included.

"Deal!" Lily agreed, wiping her tears. "Well, I'm gonna go."

"Where-" Will asked, before Emma slapped his right arm.

"To make new friends, remember?" Lily reminded with a wink, before leaving out of the office.

Strutting down the much more crowded hallways as more parents, students, and teachers arrived, Lily was more confident with a smile that could light anyone's day.

Everything was going so well until...

"Lily!" A familiar voice called out as they almost collided. And not a familiar voice she wanted to hear either.

Caleb Greene was the name associated with that voice. 6'2, brunette, tan, athletic, who looked rather muscular in that varsity football jacket that was practically inseparable from his torso.

"Caleb." Lily greeted in a not-so-welcoming tone. Without a look back, she managed to get by the wide-receiver to continue to her destination.

"You look gr-"

"Go die in a hole and rot there!" Lily yelled as she heard his footsteps behind hers.

"Wait!" Caleb called out, stepping in front of Lily and successfully getting her to stop as he purposely got in her way when she tried to escape. "Gee, to think you'd be a bit nicer to the guy you dated for four years!"

"You mean the guy who left me for some slut on the Cheerios once I became the joke of the town? Yeah, he's dead to me!" Lily lashed back, referring to the cheerleading squad at William McKinley known as "The Cheerios". Why? No one knew.

"That was a mistake! You pushed me out and anyone else that ever gave a damn about you!" Caleb yelled back.

"Keyword? Gave!" Lily argued back, her eyes watering yet again.

Again without warning, Lily managed to sneak by the varsity football player. This time she didn't get as far once Caleb grabbed her right wrist.

"Can we please talk about this?"

"You've got a minute." Lily allowed, releasing herself and crossing her arms as her shoulder rested on the lockers.

"I know cheating is unforgivable but I miss you. And I don't even care about her! We have history, Lil. We're royalty at this school, it's Caleb and Lily, babe!"

"As my mother told me while I cried in my room all day when I figured out, all good things must come to an end." Lily carelessly shrugged off.

"Really?" Caleb asked, laughing as if Lily was insane. "So you're okay with being a nobody? You're okay with the fact that those nerds in the A/V Club are more relevant than you? You're okay with the fact that this school's lame ass attempt to revive the Glee Club comes up more times in a conversation than your name ever does and ever-?"

"If it means staying away from scum like you? Any. Day." Lily managed to smile happily and shrug carelessly, before strutting away from a furious Caleb Greene, walking down the hall, and making a left.

The click of her shoes on the white tiles decreased as she got closer to her destination, a bit hesitant to even attempt such a thing. But why the hell not, right?

Lily walked into the office, standing proudly in front of the desk and the woman behind it. An African-American woman in her late 30's from what Lily and anyone else could tell. Looking up at the pale red-head practically caused her to jump out her own seat.

"What do you want?" The woman asked, her voice dripping of resentment as she eyed the girl up and down.

"Coach Lipoff, I want back on the Cheerios and I want my position back!" Lily made short and sweet to the point, placing her hands on her hips as she stood her ground.

"Your position?" Coach Bree Lipoff repeated, not to be confused with her husband.

Lily took a short breath, before she began to speak again.

"My position as captain of the Cheerios!"

* * *

In the midst of open house, all of the families conversing with teachers, Beth figured it'd be best to give Marley space until after open house was over.

Somehow, with all of the random wandering, the blonde found herself in the famous William McKinley High auditorium, the April Rhodes Civic Pavilion. For a school like William McKinley, or any school really, it was a very nice auditorium with numerous rows of semi-comfortable seats, with a pretty black stage, beautiful open red curtains and a black piano stage left.

Slowly making her way to the piano, Beth took a seat on the piano stool and smiled, glancing down at the white and black keys. Though she never attended William McKinley, due to that she lived in New York for most of her life, she had always felt a special connection with the school. She didn't know if it was because of the glee club her biological parents and adoptive sister were a part of that was based here, or the few times that Shelby took Beth with her for the occasional visits to Mr. Schuester and his wife, but this school practically felt like a second home.

Thanks to the piano lessons Shelby signed her up for, Beth immediately started playing the first song that came to mind by ear and managed to do well so far.

Moments later, Beth couldn't help but to sing along, starting the piano over from the intro.

**Beth:**  
_**Primadonna girl, yeah**_  
_**All I ever wanted was the world**_  
_**I can't help that I need it all**_  
_**The primadonna life, the rise and fall**_

Beth then started playing short, fast chords, picking up the pace as the chorus progressed. Though she was no _Marina Diamandis_, her clear and somewhat raspy voice was able to cover the song well.

_**You say that I'm kinda difficult**_  
_**But it's always someone else's fault**_  
_**Got you wrapped around my finger, babe**_  
_**You can count on me to misbehave  
**_

She stopped temporarily to sing one word, before playing the piano in fast, sharp chords again like the second half of the chorus. **_  
_**

_**Primadonna girl,  
Would you do anything for me?  
Buy a big diamond ring for me?  
Would you get down on your knees for me?  
Pop that pretty question right now, baby  
Beauty queen on a silver screen  
Living life like I'm in a dream  
I know I've got a big ego  
I really don't know why it's such a big deal, though**_

Though the song definitely did not describe the young woman 100%, the main premise of the song did. She wanted to be adored, she wanted the world, she wanted it all for herself and because of one mistake, it might have all crumpled away as she sadly spoken the the first words of every line. Didn't she deserve it?

_**Oh, and I'm sad to the core, core, core  
Yeah, every day is a chore, chore, chore  
Wow, when you give, I want more, more, more  
I wanna be adored**_

Slowly playing the piano during the first half of the chorus yet again, committing to the song and giving it her all, she was unaware that she had an audience, or rather, an audience member watching her. Had Beth not had beaten Daniel Schuester to the piano, it'd be him rocking out on stage and not her.

**_Cause I'm a primadonna girl, yeah_**  
**_All I ever wanted was the world_**  
**_I can't help that I need it all_**  
**_The primadonna life, the rise and fall_**

Wanting his presence to be known to a family friend, Daniel joined in softly with a tenor harmony causing the blonde to turn and smile in his way. He was no NYADA alum like Beth was, but he was Mr. Schuester's first born for crying out loud. Singing and harmonizing was in his genes.

**Beth with Daniel:**  
**_You say that I'm kinda difficult_**  
**_But it's always someone else's fault_**

As he ran closer to the blonde while singing, he twirled his finger before sticking it in his mouth and taking a seat beside Beth then taunting her by pretending to place it in her ear.

**_Got you wrapped around my finger, babe_**  
**_You can count on me to misbehave_**

"No!" She cried out as she stopped, laughing as she pushed his left hand away. Daniel laughed along as well, wiping his finger dry with his short-sleeve button down shirt.

"If it isn't Beth Corcoran in the flesh."

"You're one to talk! I haven't seen you since your high-school graduation!" Beth reminded. "How's life?"

"Pretty good, nothing to complain about. You?" He answered, unaware of Beth's dilemma.

Beth sighed. "You hadn't been on Facebook or Twitter, have you?"

"No, why?" Daniel asked, curious as to why Beth brought it up.

"Google my name right now." She demanded.

Taking out his I-Phone 13 S, Daniel spoke unto the phone "Beth Corcoran" once he got on the phone's web-browser. Merely moments later, photos of the blonde as well as a trillion results was listed on his phone screen.

"A trillion results!" Daniel saw on the bright side, before scrolling down to realize what those results were talking about. "Woah."

"Yup. That's me!" Beth confirmed in a weak tone and a nervous smile that Daniel didn't have to look up to catch.

"Mistakes happen, everything happens-"

"For a reason, yeah, I know." Beth finished for the brunette.

"Did you hear about Rachel?"

"Yeah, Aunt Marley told me earlier today." Beth replied, both of the two nodding their heads simultaneously. "She choked at an audition, I choked on the real thing! And I actually got into NYADA on my first try."

"Weren't you wait-listed and accepted at the last minute?" Daniel remembered correctly with a smug-ish grin, causing Beth to push him playfully.

"The point is, I screwed up and now everyone knows. Every news stand in New York, every Broadway blog online, everyone knows!" Beth stated in a nervous, fragile tone.

"What did your mom say?" Daniel continued to question her.

"She's calling me like crazy but I haven't spoken to her yet. She's on her second honeymoon with Ross for their anniversary and I didn't want to bother her with the details that my life is total crap right now!" Beth answered a bit harshly, teasing her natural wavy hair.

"It'll get better, just you wait." Daniel advised with more of a genuine and hopeful smile.

Beth laughed in response. "You and your family's optimism doesn't fail to surprise me."

"Neither does your family's pessimism. Both families." Daniel shot back playfully, Beth rolling her eyes lightly. "You'll bounce back, everyone always does. Look at _Britney Spears_ in 2007."

"True." Beth agreed, cringing at the thought of her massive breakdown happening to herself.

"You can always find a new dream." Daniel continued to advise, shrugging.

"A new dream?" Beth asked, as if Daniel was on drug or something.

"Yeah, why not? People have more than one dream, and when those dreams are accomplished, you set out for new ones!" Daniel defended, though that didn't stop Beth from sadly looking down at the keys. "Hey," He called out, lifting her chin up with his now clean index finger, "there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be huge on Broadway. But right now, you should take a break and find yourself. See what else you want to accomplish!"

"You spend way too much time with your mom!" Beth compared, again causing both of the young adults to simultaneously laugh together. "But, I guess that's a good thing! Thanks!"

"No problem!" Daniel responded back, the two smiling at each other.

* * *

**Endnote: And that's a wrap! How'd I do? Do you like the characters or completely despise them? Let me in know the reviews and don't be afraid to give any feedback, positive or negative, I'm open to any suggestions seeing that this is my first fanfic.**

**And I know Glee Club was rarely mentioned but we'll get there, just you wait and see ;)**

**All of the info for the SYOC like the forms, the rules, and the family information (there's a bunch and I didn't want to post it all in the story because it'd be so massive) and etc. is located on my profile so if you're interested, go check it out!**

**PLEASE DO NOT POST CHARACTERS IN THE REVIEWS!**

**Thanks for reading! :)  
**

* * *

**Song Featured:  
****Primadonna by Marina &amp; The Diamonds, performed by Beth Corcoran and Daniel Schuester**


	2. I Didn't Sign Up For This

**UPDATE!**

**Nothing's set in stone just yet, and there's still a few characters who haven't even been submitted for yet, this is just a second chapter to get a better feel for Melody and Anthony, some Glee Club...stuff as well with Marley, some more Bethaniel moments (thank you GleefullyGeekyWriting XD), and other...stuff lol.**

**However, to everyone that has submitted a character so far, WOW. They're all so great and it's gonna be sad that I may not be able to accept them all! Still, thanks so far for all of the help that you've all gave me so far! Competition for some of the spots are fierce! I am starting to make some of these tough decisions though, you've been warned...**

**And in despite of the fact that there's only a few Warbler/Canary/Vocal Adrenaline characters to choose from, they are by no means minor/secondary characters and I plan on giving them as equal story-time as the New Direction characters. Let's just say, they'll have an interesting rivalry of sorts... ;)**

**We're still at the open house in this chapter, btw. Or at least the same day, anyway...**

**Again, as a reminder, I do not own any of the songs that are to be featured in the fanfic, they belong to their rightful owners! I also do not own Glee or anything that's related to Glee.**

**Another reminder, all of the SYOC information can be found on my profile. Be sure to read the rules and information first before submitting, most of the answers to your questions will be found there. Don't hesitate to ask me for anything, whether it's a question about the story or advice for your character, my inbox is open!**

**AND NO POSTING CHARACTERS/CHARACTER INFO IN THE REVIEWS!  
**

* * *

**ALSO! A few more things, lol. **

**#1 - I'll probably be changing the deadline earlier. If I don't get a new character (by a new submitter) sent in today or a PM stating they're working on a character/planning to submit, the deadline will be changed to tomorrow. **

**#2 - Because of all of the amazing characters that I've received, I'll probably be accepting a few more than I expected. But I don't want to spoil anything completely ;)**

**Now you can get to reading, lol XD**

* * *

**Glee: The Next Generation**

While William McKinley High School hosted their annual early-open house for the students and their parents and families, a school in a city about two hours away decided to host something a bit more extra curricular.

Whether or not if it was more important depended on who you asked.

An adult duo, looking awfully identical with their raven dark hair, pale skin, and the determination in to succeed (that often was mistaken as the determination to kill) in the look of their eyes, had strut inside Carmel High School that afternoon with a notepad in each of the duo's hand.

To anyone that didn't know, Jesse and Harmony St. James would definitely have been mistaken as siblings or relatives of some sort. But seeing that they were THE Jesse and Harmony St. James, anyone in Akron, Ohio (or all of Ohio) that weren't familiar with the names would have to had lived under a rock.

They were talented (and sure as hell knew it too), ambitious, and relentless, who'd take no prisoners. Especially not today...

The two former Broadway stars arrived in the school's rather massive and impressive auditorium that put any auditorium in all of the Midwest to shame, thanks to the rather generous donations of the show choir's booster club.

Once their presence was made as they walked through the aisle, the thirty-three students stood up to give the St. Jameses a standing ovation. The misses had raised her right hand in the air, immediately signaling everyone to shut up and sit down.

"That never gets old." She murmured with a smug grin to Jesse, who could only chuckle as a response.

Both of the adults had begun setting up their bags and notepads at the table located in the middle of the auditorium. After getting situated, the two immediately shot up with determined glances at each and every last high school student that was invited.

"Welcome to the first round of callbacks, both Vocal Adrenaline slackers and hopefuls alike." Jesse routinely greeted to the crowd of students before him.

Being invited to callbacks could mean one of two things. Either you were scouted personally by Jesse and Harmony, or you made the list. Each year, since one Shelby Corcoran coached Vocal Adrenaline to four consecutive National championships, the coach (or coaches) would rate each and every Vocal Adrenaline member on a number of criteria. Could they dance well? Sing well? Did they look the part? Decent show face? Did they even try?

How ever many members there were ever in Vocal Adrenaline during a year, at the end of the year the bottom half would be asked to "re-audition" with the hopefuls in the summer.

"We here at Vocal Adrenaline have three waves of callbacks. Today dancing, then tomorrow singing, and finally, the day after, performing." Harmony explained, counting on her fingers.

"If you are cut from the first, second, or third callback for anyone reason, you are asked to leave and never return. However, there have been rare occasions where we have asked failed hopefuls to return due to a last-minute student transfer, life-threatening illnesses, or even in extreme cases death. And even then, we'd use the corpse as a prop for Nationals before asking a hopeful to return. What an eventful spring break that was." Jesse added, in attempt to get the kids nervous and scared. From some of the slightly petrified looks in the group and the occasional murmurs, it seemed to do its job as usual.

The sound of Harmony's clap echoed throughout the auditorium, which was successful in getting everyone back on board. "So let's get started! I'm assuming you all prepared for the routine this afternoon?"

"Routine?" A small freshman girl asked.

"Oh brother." Jesse commented to himself, face-palming himself with his right hand as he shook his head no.

"Videos of the choreographed routine were emailed to each individual in this room. Who has not seen the routine?" Harmony demanded to know, fiercely placing her hands on her hips as she witnessed nearly half of the kids came unprepared. "Rookie mistake, that'll cost you."

"To all those who were foolish enough to walk into a Vocal Adrenaline callback unprepared, you can go in the computer lab and find the video on YouTube. It's last year's National routine to "Work Bitch" by the _Britney Spears_. The video is exactly four minutes and eight seconds long, I'm timing you as soon the last person leaves, go!" Jesse informed, setting up a stopwatch on his phone as the fifteen students nearly trampled each other trying to get to the computer lab."

"Every year." Harmony sighed.

"Tell me about it." Jesse agreed, as the two sat back down, glancing over the list. "I still don't agree with your judgement on number 20."

"You cannot be serious!"

"If anything, he's a better performer than numbers 18 and 19!" Jesse whisper-yelled back.

"I was generous with Jacobs' ranking, he could have been number 26."

"Number 26 shouldn't have made it anyway!" Jesse argued in a hushed but playful tone with a smile that Harmony mimicked moments after.

"It was _you_ who wanted her to be in Vocal Adrenaline in the first place!" Harmony reminded.

"That was before her accident. Ever since that car accident, Maggie dances like she has two left feet." Jesse complained.

"Isn't half of her leg bionic?" Harmony reminded.

"That's no excuse for poorly executing a basic pirouette." Jesse shrugged.

"This'll be a long year." Harmony muttered to herself, glancing around the students that waited patiently.

* * *

It was now around one in the afternoon and the choir room was practically full of parents and kids that were signing up for classes such as chorus, jazz band, and orchestra. And despite all the commotion, Marley still managed to smile at the joy of it all.

Sure, there were more than a plenty of students who signed up for chorus because it was "an easy A" but Marley loved meeting the students who actually cared about music in general and shared the passion of music with her. Those were what brightened her day.

After reluctantly picking gum out of the bell of a tuba from yet another immature group of students, Marley felt what she assumed to be an index finger tap lightly on her shoulder. Turning around, she didn't expect it to be such a familiar face.

"Mercedes!" Marley shrilled in excitement, trapping the bigger framed woman into her arms as Mercedes did the same. Melody and Anthony, meanwhile, smiled nervously at each other as their mother became reacquainted with an old friend.

"Hey girl, how have you been?" Mercedes asked.

"Good, good. How about you?"

"Pretty good myself!" Mercedes answered, still matching Marley's wide smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Puckerman!" Anthony finally greeted, while Melody waved.

"You guys are so big now!" Marley realized, taking her attention to the Evans offspring. "I haven't seen you guys since you were this small!" She gestured, lowering her right hand to her knee to indicate how tall they were.

"How are your kids?" Melody politely asked, seeing as she couldn't recite their names from memory.

"Well, they're teenagers!" Marley then joked to Mercedes, who laughed alongside, leaving Melody and Anthony to stand idly by. "But they're good, couldn't be happier without them!"

"I hear ya!" Mercedes agreed, side-hugging both of her children simultaneously, causing them to glance down at the ground in embarrassment.

"Either of you two planning on taking any of my classes?"

"Just Ant here." Mercedes answered, rubbing and massaging through the biracial's thick chocolate curls.

"Only after seeing those girls walk in here." Melody added, titling her head to the right to the group of four girls by the piano.

"That is completely false, I have a lovely voice, Mrs. Puckerman!" Anthony defended himself, after seeing Marley's concerned face, only causing Mercedes to giggle.

"It's really booming around here nowadays!" Mercedes witnessed with an approving head nod.

"Yeah, it's crazy!" Marley agreed.

"Glee must be booming too!"

Marley's smile quickly faded onto a disappointed and down facial expression, her frown being very apparent. "Well more like the opposite, actually."

"Seriously?" Mercedes asked in a concerned and worried tone. "With Mr. Schuester as principal, I would have thought he'd make it required."

"He wants it just as much as I do, maybe even more! It's just that the school-board wouldn't approve of spending the school's budget money on five or six students." Marley explained with a shrug.

"I'd love to help but I'm so busy with my new record label and Sam's got his new organization for dyslexics and the arts to worry about. He's at a meeting now and is booked all next week." Mercedes stated. "But Melody and Anthony could join!"

"No!" Both of her kids let out simultaneously at a rapid pace that scared both Marley, Mercedes, and themselves.

"Don't get us wrong, Glee sure did sound cool when you guys were kids but I'm not that crazy about it." Melody spoke on behalf of herself and her brother, who nodded in agreement. "Ant, on the other hand, would be more than willing if he thought any of the girls were cute."

"That...I won't argue with." Anthony accepted with a casual shrug.

"I understand!" Marley reassured, somewhat forcing a smile directed at the brother-sister duo.

"So no Glee, huh?" Mercedes asked again, still down about the situation.

"If we can't get at least nine members before the end of September, Principal Schuester will have to pull the plug for good." Marley replied. "Not to mention the fact that they changed the rules. You now need at least eighteen students to qualify for competition."

"Damn!" Mercedes let out.

"Yeah." was the only word Marley could say. "Well, it was nice seeing you!" She tried to perk up with a much more forced smile.

"Likewise! Maybe I can get you writing one of my songs for the record label?" Mercedes offered.

"I'd love that! You still have my number?" Marley accepted, this time being genuinely happy for once.

"Yup, we'll keep in touch!" Mercedes reassured, again hugging the music teacher of William McKinley. "C'mon guys, let's go!" Mercedes demanded immediately after the short embrace. Marley waved goodbye to the family as they reciprocated the gesture.

"Maybe they'll come around..." Marley muttered to herself with an eager and optimistic smile.

* * *

"Thanks, by the way." Beth finally thanked Daniel as the two arrived in the gym, standing idly by the front door without a thing to do. Everyone else in the gym were checking out the club and sports stands such as the famous Cheerios, Chess Club, Football, Celibacy Club, Student Council, etc.

"No problem, it's what we Schuesters do, as my dad always says." Daniel shrugged off. "So what's the plan for now?"

"No clue. I'm staying with Aunt Marley and Uncle Jake until I can afford a place of my own. Not to mention that I'm out of job!" Beth answered, beginning to worry about what she was going to do with herself now.

"Sounds like the typical college kid to me." Daniel chuckled, getting Beth to laugh along.

The blonde sighed. "Those were the days. How is the college life?"

"Crazy, wild, and-"

"Woah tiger! I don't need details!" Beth interrupted immediately.

"I was talking about my work load! Way to keep your head in the gutter, Corcoran!" Daniel corrected the blonde, before she playfully pushed the 5'11 college student into an innocent bystander, causing them to spill their opened bottle of water all over their face.

Well, maybe not **THAT** innocent.

"Kids will be kids, huh?" Coach Bree Lipoff asked the two young adults with her hands placed on her hips, who did their best not to break out in laughter like little toddlers. "Tell me, Beth, how was your opening night?"

"It was-"

"Terrible, according to the top Broadway blog, The Broadway Pulse." The coach of the Cheerios filled in, fully aware of Beth's situation.

"Mistakes happen, no one's perfect!" Beth responded, appearing to stay strong, shrug it off, and bluff.

"They taught you that in Gleek Club your parents were in?"

"I wasn't in Glee Club but they sure did!" Beth replied with a fake tone of happiness, her fake smile touching from ear to ear, revealing every last tooth in her mouth.

"Did they also teach you not to chase dreams you won't be capable of accomplishing?" Coach Lipoff asked, mocking the same tone and smile.

"Coach Lipoff-" Daniel began to speak up, seeing that Beth's bluff started to slowly crumble.

"Hold it, Schuester!" She cut him off, holding her index finger by the young man's face. "Your girlfriend here wants to fire shots but is suddenly too scared when it's someone else's turn to do the shooting."

"You started it!" Beth reminded.

"And I finished it too!" Coach Lipoff stated smugly, strutting to her stand for the Cheerios while Beth just rolled her eyes.

"Why does your dad even let her teach here?" Beth asked, watching the coach with her Cheerios by their stand, happily promoting what could be one of the most hardest cheer squads to ever get into.

"That's what Lily asked." Daniel laughed, Beth chuckling along.

"Is she gonna re-join the Cheerios?"

"I personally don't know, and I know that Mom said no, but you know Lily." Daniel honestly replied, Beth agreeing with a smile and nod.

"Maybe she could get interested in other extra-curricular activities?" Beth suggested, attempting to be helpful.

"Like what?" Daniel questioned with doubt, gesturing to all of the stands in the gym.

"Volleyball!"

"She doesn't like the team captain." Daniel denied.

"Celibacy Club?" Beth yet again attempted in with some doubt, seeing that was the second stand she spotted.

"Did you forget she dated Caleb Greene?" Daniel reminded. "Had it not been for my parents and his, I would've kicked his ass last year."

"No way!" Beth called out. "You love Lily but you're too much of a lover to fight for anything!"

"I'll fight for what I love." Daniel argued in his defense.

"Karate!" Beth suggested next.

"We don't have karate here." Daniel verified.

"Oh." Beth sadly slumped in defeat. "What does she like to do?"

"Lily's a complicated individual. She's only interested in things that allow her to shine in the best light." Daniel characterized.

"What did she like to do as a child?" Beth rephrased.

"Singing with Dad and putting on shows. All three of us would put them on for Mom on her birthday and every Mother's Day." Daniel smiled at the memory when he and Lily were merely young children. Even when Emma was sick, or tired, or stressed, or angry, or depressed, Will and his helpers (Daniel and Lily of course) would find a way to make the woman of the house feel better.

"Sounds like Lily would fit in perfectly with-" Beth began, before titling Daniel's head toward a very specific stand and pointing in that direction.

Sitting behind the stand was none other than Jake Puckerman, Beth's half-uncle. The bi-racial man decided to sub in for his wife until she finished up with her open house for all of her classes.

"Glee Club?" Daniel laughed, as if Beth were delirious. "I tried asking her senior year, and you wanna know what she did?"

"Oh, Lord." Beth mumbled, regretting to ever suggest such a thing.

"She laughed and then said she'd rather starve than take part of the social suicide singing squad." Daniel recited word for word.

"Well, where else does she belong?" Beth played devil's advocate.

"Maybe at..." Daniel began, glancing at each and every stand except the Glee Club's stand, "okay, you might be right." The 20 year old accepted his defeat.

"So let's sign her up!" Beth took charge, grabbing Daniel by his hand and marching to the Glee Club stand, dragging a somewhat reluctant Daniel along.

"We can't just force it on her though!" Daniel mumbled, as the two stood before Beth's uncle Jake. Looking up from the sign up sheet, he was surprised to see the two young adults standing there.

"Don't you think you're a little too old for Glee Club?" The 37 year old man joked with a playfully grin, getting both Daniel and Beth to chuckle along.

"No, we're here to sign his sister up."

"She can sign up herself!" Daniel argued (though in a calm tone), pulling away forcefully from Beth's grip.

"I don't know, Daniel has a-" Jake began to speak on the matter, until he was interrupted by his vibrating cellphone placed beside the clipboard. "Hold on, I gotta take this!"

The two young adults nodded simultaneously, allowing Jake to answer his phone to take a call.

"Hey Rach...good, I'm good, how are you?...That's good to hear...I'm at Marley's open house, helping her with...uh huh...yeah...but we just held a meeting last week!" Jake reminded. "Uh-huh," He spoke onto his phone, this time a bit more reluctantly, "yeah...yeah, okay, I'll be there. Bye."

"What was that about?" Beth questioned.

"'Principal Hudson' wants to hold another staff meeting. This time, it's an 'emergency'." He filled in, air-quoting "Principal Hudson" and "emergency". After Rachel pursued her dreams on Broadway (and married her high-school sweetheart that she too meet in Glee Club, Finn Hudson), the short Jewish woman decided to give back by opening a performing arts school for the young, where she was the founder and the principal, as well as a singing and acting coach.

Jake, after pursuing his dreams of dancing and starring in the last three installments of "Step Up", became a dance teacher at Rachel's school, known as The Gold Stars Academy of The Arts.

Jake had a right to complain, though. The last "emergency" staff meeting had to deal with carpooling to make sure everyone was safe getting to work after one car accident that barely injured a teacher in Columbus.

"That's Rachel." Beth characterized, giggling a bit and shaking her head in disbelief.

"Well, I've gotta go! Do you guys think you can take over until I get back? The school's only about ten minutes away and I promised your aunt Marley I'd help her this time." Jake pleadingly offered to his niece and her friend, who directed uncertain glances at one another, waiting for the other to respond.

"Sure!" Daniel agreed.

Jake shoot up from his seat and shook Daniel's hand while saying "Thanks", and then shook Beth's before adding in a hug for his niece.

"Are you okay? I heard what happened." Jake wanted to know as he still held on, glancing down at the blonde.

"Yeah, I'm fine, aren't you going to be late?" Beth rushed, not wanting to get into too many details at the moment.

"Right, thanks again!" Jake hurriedly ran out of the gym through the front door to make sure he wasn't late for yet another one of Rachel Hudson's meetings.

"So, are we signing Lily up?" Beth asked for permission while Daniel found a chair to slid beside the blonde's seat.

"No, not unless she wants to do." Daniel made final.

"Fine." Beth reluctantly agreed, playfully slumping in the back of her chair. "There's not many people signing up though." She then realized, after taking a good look at the clipboard.

"Wow, this list is shorter than last year." Daniel inspected the sign-up, glancing down at the names of the piece of paper. "Dad'll have to shut it down for good."

"Aunt Marley wanted it so much! It's one of the only reasons she decided to teach here!" Beth stated, a bit gloom that the chances her aunt had of keeping Glee alive were slim to none.

Was it completely over?

* * *

"She has got to be kidding!" Melody complained as she Anthony walked into the gymnasium after meeting all of their teachers and their lists of supplies that they needed for school. Just before the two were allowed to leave, Mercedes wanted Melody and Anthony to participate in something school related by signing up for a sport or club in the gym. And for proof, she wanted the two to take pictures of their names on the sign-up sheet. They couldn't just wait at home all day doing nothing. Plus they were the new kids on the block...

"What are you gonna do?"

"Basketball! Duh?" Anthony made obvious as if Melody were a kid.

"Basketball? Are you trying out for a new position? Or are you sticking to playing bench-warmer all year?" Melody asked sarcastically as she leaned her back against the wall, crossing her arms, and then chuckling.

"I was a freshman last year on the varsity team, of course I wasn't going to get in all of the games!" Anthony defended himself.

"Or any." Melody added teasingly.

"I played!"

"How many games?" Melody asked in disbelief.

"...two." Anthony mumbled. "While you stand here like a duck in headlights, I'll sign up for the basketball team!" Anthony pointed back at the designed stand, before turning his back on his sister and approaching it on his own.

"It's a deer in headlights!" She loudly corrected.

"Not in your case!" He yelled back, not bothering to turn around.

"Goof." Melody said, way out of Anthony ear-shot as he went to talk to the coach of the basketball team. Melody directed all of her attention at the other stands to see where she best belonged. The A/V Club seemed desperate, in more ways than one as one of the male members winked and sloppily licked his lips as he caught Melody's glance.

Cringing, Melody continued to search through the stands. She barely passed Art freshman year, so the Art Club was out. Being raised in New York City didn't do her or the Gardening Club any favors.

And Glee Club was **DEFINITELY** out.

"Hi!" Coach Lipoff approached the teenage girl, causing her to literally jump at how sudden she approached her and the huge smile plastered on her face. "Would you be interested in joining the Cheerios?"

"The cereal?" The blonde, curly haired girl asked, confused.

Coach Lipoff laughed in response, trying her best not to be offended or get offended. "No, silly, William McKinley's cheerleading squad."

This time, Melody laughed. "Ha, when pigs fly!"

"Are you sure? We're on our way to our tenth consecutive National Championship! Tryouts will be held on the last Saturday before school starts! Everyone loves being a Cheerio!" The African-American woman continued in her fake charade and forced smile.

"Everyone but me!" Melody mocked in the same tone and fake smile. "Sorry, I just have better things to do then cheering in tight short skirts and pom-poms." Melody honestly replied and apologized.

"What, you think you're too good for the Cheerios?" Coach Lipoff immediately dropped the charade, eyeing the girl up and down. "You wouldn't survive a practice session with us!"

"Then I guess you guys are pretty desperate for a tenth consecutive National Championship, huh?" Melody shot back, not liking this woman's attitude.

"I'd hate for you to get two weeks detention for poor behavior. And it's not even the first day of school yet." Coach Lipoff threatened.

"Guess that makes me some kinda legend." Melody shrugged off.

"I like your sass." Coach Lipoff admitted, nodding her head up and down.

"Can't say the same for yours."

"We'll meet again, young lady." The woman warned. "Until next time!" She finished in her fake tone and smile, before strutting off into the McKinley High hallway.

"What the hell was that?" Anthony asked, standing beside his older sister.

"Beats me." Melody honesty replied.

"Well we can't leave until you sign up for something!" Anthony reminded, a bit annoyed as he softly banged the back of his head onto the wall behind him.

Not finding anything that suits her caliber, Melody quickly came up with a plan. "Here's what I'm gonna do! I'll walk into Principal Schue's office-"

"Oh, God, no!" Anthony immediately denied, his curls bouncing as he shook his head no.

"Just listen!" She demanded. "I'll go to Principal Schue and ask for a sign up sheet because the club or sport I'm signing up for is out of paper."

"What sport?"

"I don't know, the Cheerios?" Melody answered, leaving Anthony confused since he had not a clue as to what sport or club that was. She continued with her plan. "Then, I'll write my name down on pen on the blank sign up sheet, take a picture, throw it away and Mom'll never know."

"She will if you come home early everyday." Anthony spotted a flaw in her plan.

"I'll find something to do in this hell-hole for an hour everyday." Melody reassured.

"Or someone." Anthony joked, despite the fact that his sister wasn't that kind of girl.

Somewhat light-hearted, Melody responded with a push on Anthony's right shoulder. "Shut up! Are you in or what?"

"In?"

"I need a witness and you're the only thing I've got." Melody explained, now leaning on her left shoulder as she faced Anthony.

"Okay!" Anthony agreed willingly, shrugging his shoulders as the two made it into the hallway.

* * *

"That was easy." Melody practically bragged with a smug half-grin, her hands in her jean pockets as the two strolled down the corridor.

It wasn't as easy as they thought.

"Melody? Anthony?" A familiar sounding voice called out, leaving the two bi-racial children to slowly turn around only to find out that their instincts were right. "Hey, I haven't seen you guys in so long, how are you?" Jake Puckerman asked, approaching the children from the door at the end of the hallway.

"Good!" The siblings replied simultaneously, even the nod and the smile.

"Where are going?"

"To see Principal Schuester and say hi." Melody came up with on the spot, pointing back in the direction that his office was located at. "How are the kids?"

"Well, they are teenagers." Jake repeated after his wife jokingly. Not missing a beat, Melody and Anthony again acted simultaneously as they laughed a bit too hard at the joke that clearly wasn't funny to either of them. "Yeah, yeah. Why won't you sign up for Glee Club?"

"What?" The siblings replied yet again at the same time, sending angry glances toward each other.

"Marley called me after I left from a staff meeting, she said you two didn't want to join. Why?"

"We're just not interested in it. It's not our thing." Anthony honestly replied.

"It wasn't my thing, or any of our things. But after we joined, we really liked it and we think you kids could too! It helped out all of us when we needed help the most!" Jake defended. "And isn't there a YouTube video of you two singing a duet for the talent show a couple of years ago?"

"We were in elementary school, everyone participated in the talent show." Melody shrugged off.

"Could you two at least give it a chance? For my wife? For me? For your parents?" Jake offered.

"Ugh, I hate it when adults start making sense." Melody complained. "Fine, I'll sign up."

"Ow!" Anthony called out as his older sister stepped on his foot. "I guess I'll join too..."

"Thank you! It was nice seeing you two! I might even see you at the rehearsals." Jake thanked properly, patting each of the two on the back before heading off to his wife's classroom.

"Great!" The two responded with forced smiles.

"We've got to stop doing that." Melody told Anthony.

"And this is why I don't like to be involved with your schemes!" Anthony explained, putting all of the blame on his sister.

"It happens to the best of us." Melody shrugged as they walked back to the gym.

Several moments later, both Melody and Anthony stood before Daniel and Beth, surprised to see the two.

"Hey guys!" Beth happily greeted with a wide smile. Daniel couldn't help but to smile just as wide either.

"How are ya?" Daniel casually asked.

"Good." Anthony replied as he was the first to sign his name on the sheet. "Melody?" He offered her the black pen.

Snatching from his grasps, Melody quickly wrote her first and last name on the piece of paper.

"We'll be seeing you." Melody stated her farewell, after handing the blonde the black pen. The tomboy then rushed to get out of the gym so she didn't have to stay in there any longer than she had to.

"Is she okay?" Daniel asked, a bit worried.

"Not really, it's a rough one." Anthony lied, chuckling after realizing he meant to refer to the day rather than what could have been interpreted as something completely different. "I'll see you guys around!" He also stated his farewell, before literally following in his sister's footsteps.

"Nice, we scored two names!" Beth let out.

"Someone's excited." Daniel examined the new-found smile on Daniel's face.

"Well, it'll make Aunt Marley happy. Your dad'll be happy, everyone's happy!" The 24 year old explained.

"Maybe you can help Marley with Glee Club?" Daniel suggested.

"You think?"

"Well, so far, your Broadway career went to hell-"

"Hey!" Beth yelled, offended.

"Let me finish." Daniel recommended. "Temporarily, it went to hell. So you could use a break. Glee Club could be your break!"

Beth hummed. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. But what if Glee goes to hell too?"

"Well, she could use help with her classes like orchestra, jazz band, and chorus. You could be her TA or something and get paid so you can get out of her and Jake's place and find an apartment on your own." Daniel offered.

"What about your dad?" Beth continued to spot holes in Daniel's plan.

"He'd be willing to help you out. He'd give you a job like that! Four years of NYADA, you were taught by the toughest of the tough!" Daniel continued. "And besides, you're young...ish-"

"Hey!" Beth repeated, slapping his hand in protest.

"And you'd be able to connect with the kids better." Daniel finished.

"Good point." Beth agreed, nodding as she smiled to herself. A break from all of the New York drama to help kids achieve their dreams like she could have with hers.

It didn't sound that bad and it couldn't be so bad, working with groups of high-school students with their whole lives ahead of them. Maybe this was just the kind of break Beth Corcoran needed...

* * *

"Alright, let's get started!" Jesse St. James demanded, as he and Harmony stood as close as possible to the stage to watch the hopefuls carefully to see if they had what it takes to be in Vocal Adrenaline.

"Wait!" One of the students called out. "There's thirty-three of us and the routine calls for a partner, how are we supposed to-"

"Out!" Jesse interrupted, pointing his thumb at the exit behind him.

"What?" He asked.

"Out! O-u-t, out!" Harmony literally spelled out.

In tears, the rising freshman boy ran off the stage sobbing as Jesse and Harmony and the other thirty-two students watched every step he made.

"Any dancer would have made it work, regardless of what the routine calls for." Jesse explained his reasoning to the students, who all nodded nervously, almost sweating in anticipation.

"There's always that one student every year." Harmony remembered, from previous students who were asked to leave for asking similar questions. "Anyway, enough of that. Let's see what you got! Track 3!" She yelled, cuing the music for the first round of callbacks to finally commence.

Vocal Adrenaline were going to be as fierce as ever.

* * *

**A bit longer than the first chapter (and that might be because of the update stuff), but whatever. I hoped you guys liked it! Review to let me know what you thought of it! I'd love feedback! :)**


	3. Welcome Back, McKinley

**Alright, the cast list is posted. And I've done all I can think of, so let's get started with the third chapter then, huh? I love criticism, whether it's positive or negative :)**

**I also like to apologize, I never meant to post this late. Things came up, I constantly second-guessed myself as to how to start, and at times I did get a bit lazy but late's better than never, right?**

**I can't believe I forgot to mention my tumblr for this story, for those that may not have seen it yet. Links are on my profile where the family/character info can also be found.**

**Again, as a reminder, I do not own any of the songs that are to be featured in the fanfic, they belong to their rightful owners! I also do not own Glee or anything that's related to Glee.**

* * *

**Glee: The Next Generation**

Labor Day had arrived, the Monday before the first day of school for all of the students attending William McKinley High School.

And boy was it a hot one for a day in September...

Meteorologist Steven Hall had warned everyone in Lima, Ohio and the surrounding areas that the 85 degree (in Fahrenheit) weather would break the local temperature records of warm temperature in September since 1967. And the humidity wasn't doing anyone any favors. Luckily, the rare warm front would only last a day.

But that didn't stop one Bree Lipoff from holding her annual back to school Cheerio tryouts. Standing on the 4th from the bottom row of the bleachers, the Cheerios coach had checked a name off of her clipboard for each Cheerio that was present on the field in formation. And all but one member from the twenty-two member roster list had arrived to perform for the newbies on time.

It wasn't like Mackenzie Lynn to be late. It was NEVER like her to be late, but when dealing with the likes of her sister, Avery, she had gotten use to expecting the unexpected.

"If Coach Lipoff kicks me off the squad for being late, I will kill you!" Kenzie hissed, power-walking through the halls as she clenched Avery's left arm, her mother clenching the other. Had Avery not tried to lock herself in the bathroom to avoid Cheerio try-outs, then maybe it would have been another situation.

Avery laughed at the weak threat. "Please, like Little Miss Overachiever would taint her golden reputation."

"Sale knows a guy, who knows a guy that can make it look like an accident or a suicide." Kenzie said, referencing her best-friend, Salem Hummel-Anderson, who was probably sitting at home in Westerville, plotting her next rebellious scheme during her last two weeks of summer. If you wanted to get away with murder, or any other rebellious activity that wasn't as criminal, Salem was your girl to go to.

"You need new friends," Kitty blatantly put, "and you need more female friends!" She then directed toward the youngest blonde as the three finally marched out of the building and onto the field.

"Has anyone seen Mack-"

"Present, Coach Lipoff!" She ran to the field where the rest of the her teammates were, while Kitty dragged Avery to sit with the rest of the students who were also dressed in the school's P.E uniform: a red shirt that had "McKINLEY PHYS ED" written in white on the front and black mesh shorts.

"You're lucky you're one of my best Cheerios, Lynn. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been as generous to not kick you off on one of the most important practice dates of the year." Bree lectured, after checking off the rising junior's name while she looked down at the ground in shame.

"My daughter, however crazy she may be, is involved with six extra curricular activities, three of those being captain of the varsity soccer team, the junior class president, and one of the co-captains of this very squad, and yet so far, with the exception of today, she manages to arrive on time to every single one of your slave-driven practice sessions!" Kitty said as she folded her arms while approaching the woman. Meanwhile, Kenzie only rolled her eyes at another one of her mother's rants.

"I can't give your daughter special treatment, not even my son gets special treatment! I treat them all the same, despite their talent or lack thereof. I don't have favorites."

"On or off the field?" Kitty thought she mumbled only to herself, only to have Bree practically send daggers in her direction.

"Anyway," Bree initiated to get back on topic, "here's our newest routine yet. This is what I'll be expecting of you if you want to be a Cheerio. Track one!"

With a nod to verify he understood the request, Bree's youngest son, Bryce, had gotten the music started for the Cheerios.

"And so, it begins." Bryce spoke onto his fully charged camcorder, before turning it to face the cheerleading squad again. Throughout the speakers on the football field, a mashup of _One Direction_'s cover of "One Way or Another" and "Pom Poms" by_ Jonas Brothers_ served as the background music for the routine.

_One way or another I'm gonna find you_  
_I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha_

_One day, maybe next week_  
_I'm gonna meet ya, I'm gonna meet ya, I'll meet ya_

"5, 6, 7, 8!"

Immediately after Bree's countdown, the Cheerios had lifted their heads and began the intense routine in almost perfect unison. An even formation for a group of twenty-two wasn't easy to form, despite the even number of Cheerios, but Bree made it possible by having the cheerleaders in her own version of the simple bowling pin formation.

_Yeah they come from miles away_  
_Just to see how you get down_  
_Feels like an earthquake_  
_Every time you come around_

Front and center of the rows of lined-up Cheerios were none other than their new co-captains: Veronica Pierce-Lopez, who gave it her all with a smile as she occasionally mouthed the lyrics, and of course, Kenzie on Veronica's left who mimicked, mirrored, and kept up, being more than capable to hold her own as well.

Behind them, many were following the same dance movements while four of the guys cartwheeled and back-flipped all over the place. The intense cheer squad even echoed after the football field speakers, as cued.

_(The Cheerios)_  
_You hear 'em saying yeah_ **(_yeah_)**  
_Every time feels like a revival _**(_glory_)**  
_So get up, right now_  
_We're coming for the title_

Finally, the four guys had stopped flipping around everywhere and joined the rest of the group with a few quick lifts while most of the other girls were still dancing on the ground on their knees. Most of the students on the bleachers either looked amazed, intimidated, or a combination of both. Avery, on the other hand, looked rather bored.

_I will drive past your house_  
_And if the lights are all down_  
_I'll see who's around_

"Don't drop her again, Gav!" The Cheerios Coach yelled out. Soon, all the girls were up in the air with their respective guy partners using their hands as chairs for the girls to sit in while they executed rather basic cheer motions such as the "V" and the "T" to the beat of the chorus, ironically, without any pom poms.

_(One way or another) More to love when your hands are free_  
_Baby put your pom poms down for me _(_Okay!_)  
_Come on shake it up 1-2-3_  
_Baby put your pom poms down for me _(_I'll getcha, I'll getcha_)

The 6'1 dreadlocked male that everyone knew to be Gavin Lipoff successful caught Veronica this time around, the other Cheerio pairs behind them repeating the same motion slowly.

The choreography continued to look challenging for those who were trying out once everyone was on the ground, however, the cheerleaders still managed to put wear their best game face while they managed to "shake what their mamas gave 'em".

"That looks so hard!" One of the girls sitting behind Avery complained, nervously staring down the squad.

"And so fucking hot!"

The girl sitting beside Avery then turned around and shot the girl behind Avery a wink with one of her pretty blue eyes that popped against her smoky eye makeup. Clearly disgusted, her face cringed as she ran off the football field, yelling "Ew" as if she had walked in on her parents bumping uglies. The fellow blonde beside Avery then laughed as a few of her friends glared her down. Avery couldn't help but to join in, unaware of her mother's eye-like-daggers stare from above the bleachers.

_One way or another I'm gonna see you_  
_I'm gonna meet ya, meet ya, meet ya, meet ya_

Another girl sitting diagonally opposite of Avery tapped on her shoulder then leaned in so Avery could hear her. "Wow, your sister's good! Think you can compete?"

Avery sighed as she watched her older sister give her all to the routine. The look in her emerald green eyes, the genuine smile on her face, her overall confident aura as she stuck the cartwheel landing she performed with Veronica. _Kenzie_ definitely loved being a Cheerio and clearly earned her shared co-captaincy.

"Yeah." Avery finally answered, without bothering to turn around.

She wasn't lying; both of the Lynn girls were able to dance their asses off, thanks to Kitty. And she had no doubt that she'd be able to keep up with the cheerleaders, it was whether or not _she_ wanted to do.

_Come on shake it up 5-4-3_  
_Baby put your pom poms down for me _(_I'll getcha, I'll getcha_)

The twenty-two cheerleaders then divided into two groups of eleven, the girls on their coach's left and the guys on her right.

_Ladies to the left, fellas to the right_ (_1-2-3-4_)

Veronica and Kenzie still stood in the front, leading the group of girls, as did another cheerleader who stood between the two, named Sophie Chang. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that she was a great dancer, considering that her father was THE Mike Chang, owner of Bella's Ballet Academy who taught one special guest lesson a year at Gold Star Academy.

The vocals on the track had been muted while the Cheerios were out on the field singing and dancing, a suggestion made by Veronica.

**Female Cheerios (Male Cheerios):**  
**_If you wanna see me put my pom poms down (Na, na, na, na, na, na)  
Then sing it to me baby (Na, na, na, na, na, na)  
Sing it right now! (Na, na, na, na, na, na)_**

Meanwhile, Gav and two others lead the guys while it was their turn to dance while the girls kneel on the floor that time around.

**Male Cheerios:**  
_**Na na na na na na, **_  
_**Na na na na na na na na,**_  
_**Yeah yeah**_

During the short instrumental, both of the groups had regrouped quickly in the middle.

Then, somehow as the music underwent a key change, the routine intensified with more complicated dance moves and stunts from those four guys and two other girls in the back.

"I'm out!" One of the girls behind Avery exclaimed, realizing just how difficult it was to be a Cheerio. A few other girls and a few guys followed behind her, clearly intimidated.

(_One way or another_)_ More to love when your hands are free_  
_Baby put your pom poms down for me_  
_Come on shake it up 1-2-3_  
_Baby put your pom poms down for me _(_I'll getcha, I'll getcha_)

_One way or another I'm gonna see you_  
_I'm gonna meet you, meet you, meet you, meet you_

_Come on shake it up 5-4-3_  
_Baby put your pom poms down for me _(_I'll getcha, I'll getcha_)

The routine ended with a pyramid. Veronica, Sophie, and Kenzie were all lifted into the air with right hand on their hips and their left hand pumped into the air as a fist. A few other Cheerios on the ground were kneeling with both of their fists in the air, awaiting for their coach's response and critic while the remaining potential Cheerios had given a standing ovation.

Or at least most did, while Avery and the blonde beside her looked at each other and shared another laugh.

Bryce, meanwhile, turned the camcorder back around to face him. "The Cheerios are starting off strong this school year. They're the shoe-ins for Nationals this year, no doubt about it! And it's all thanks to the beautiful and lovely, Coach Bree Lipoff and co-captains Veronica Pierce-Lopez and Mackenzie Lynn."

"Mediocre!" Bree yelled, without the use of her megaphone. "If you guys weren't so busy singing and lip-synching, maybe your timing would have been better. Are you guys even trying? Because I can't tell from here!"

"Are you kidding? That routine was 'flawless'," Kitty disagreed, then sang-song the word "flawless" as sung by _Beyoncé_, "though the music choice was...decent."

"And Chang, turn the frown upside down! The judges stop judging once every last cheerleader is off the mat, and your little eye-roll could have cost us Nationals. That'll be fifteen more laps to add today. You may be seated."

Everyone knew better than to sigh in resentment. With the exception of Veronica, Sophie, and Kenzie, the Cheerios were headed the bleachers while Bree took a seat at the table where Bryce was seated. The only reason Bryce was allowed here was to video tape the tryouts, in exchange of video taping the rest of the experience for his own blog, the Lima Gazette. The three girls also joined their coach and her son at the table to evaluate those who were trying out.

"Let's just get this over with." Bree muttered, getting her notepad and pen ready. "I'll be calling you all randomly. When I call your name, you're gonna complete a simple cheer for us. If I say sit, you sit on the same side on the bleachers with the Cheerios and you made it to the second part of the try-outs. Leave means leave, it's that simple. First up, Avery Lynn."

Avery reluctantly marched in front of Bree, Bryce, and the three Cheerios. Her mother's cheers from the bleachers weren't helping either.

"Don't think you'll make the squad because your sister's a co-captain." Bree said, clicking her black pen.

"I didn't." Avery reassured.

While shaking her hands and arms and stretching to loosen up, Avery noticed that Kenzie looked worried, while Kitty glared anxiously down at her. There was no turning back now.

"Ready? Okay!" Avery initiated, while looking up and clapping her hand once, a smile plastered on her face. "Yell for the Titans, we can't be beat! So you better watch out, we'll knock you off your feet! Go Titans! Woo!"

Avery's tryout chant ended with a high-kick and then a back-flip. Her hands rested on her hips while waiting for a response. For someone who didn't want to try-out, Avery was great and full of energy.

"Decent high-kick and enthusiasm. Your timing's slightly off, and the landing could have been better. Sit." Bree pointed behind the bleachers with her thumb on the side where the Cheerios were sitting.

Avery sighed in relief, before waving up at her mother who nodded proudly. Kenzie couldn't help but to smile either.

"Watch out, she could take your place." Veronica teased playfully while Bree continued to take notes.

"Or your place." Kenzie replied, before the two poked their tongues out at each other as if they were kindergartners.

"Charlotte Romero!"

The blonde that was sitting beside Avery smiled as she was called, approaching the group of five quickly to get this over with, quickly stretching to humor everyone else. Had it not been for her mother, she wouldn't have been here in the first place.

"Romero?" Veronica said to herself, eyeing the 5'8 girl down.

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. You just seem familiar. Did you just move here?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Can you both hush it so we can get this over with? You'll have time to make friends and gossip tomorrow." Bree demanded.

"Whatever." Charlotte sighed. "Go team go. Yay."

Charlotte hardly moved two steps for her chant. Everyone could tell she didn't want to be there just by the bored look in her eye. And if that wasn't a dead give away, her monotone voice during the chant definitely was.

What wiped the cheerleaders and its hopefuls' furrowed looks off of their faces was the herkie jump that Charlotte attempted sarcastically.

"I've seen infants come up with a better chant and rocks with better moves than that. You didn't even attempt to smile."

"Bummer." Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. Avery had to bite the inside of her lip to retain herself.

"However, you managed to execute a nice herkie. Could you demonstrate it again?"

"What's a herkie?"

"Just jump like you did earlier!" Bree said, clearly annoyed.

Without missing a beat Charlotte suddenly jumped again, her right leg kicked forward and her left kicked back and under, forming an acute angel. After executing the powerful jump, she managed to stick the landing effortlessly yet again.

"Sit."

"What?" Veronica, Kenzie, Sophie, and Charlotte asked in unison.

"She may be as lifeless as a corpse and as stiff as a board but she could make a good stunt girl or flyer. Now sit!" Bree made final to the four. Shocked, with her eyes practically popping out of her head, Charlotte went to join Avery on the bleachers.

"Damn it." Charlotte said under her breath.

"Anabelle Castle."

"It's actually pronounced Kuh-sell." Anabelle Cassel corrected with a slight French accent and a confident smile as she approached the group of five. Avery was surprised to see who the face was behind the girl that asked if she was able to compete earlier. Her cold ice blue eyes popped somewhat harshly against her fair brown skin, and she looked pretty fit as if she was a dancer herself.

"Woah! You're trying out for the Cheerios?" Bryce asked, taking his focus off the camera and onto the girl in front of him.

"Yeah. What, a girl can't have interests?"

"I'm just saying, you don't see many Cheerios that are in newspaper and photography club." Bryce remembered from the open-house, after seeing her at both stands when he too signed up for both of those clubs himself.

"Are you new here too? You look familiar." Kenzie spoke up this time.

"Uh, yeah. First time in Ohio, actually!" She verified, scratching the back of her long dark brown hair.

"Last warning." Bree blurted out.

"Anyway, here's my cheer."

Anabelle stretched shortly as well, then dove right into her cheer.

"Watch out! We're here! And ready to cheer! The black, red, and white are ready to fight! Yell black, red, and white! Fight Titans fight! Black, red, and white! Fight Titans fight! Go McKinley!"

Anabelle looked like a Cheerio in a gym uniform. Every clap, step, and cheer motion were presented as if Anabelle was cheering on the sidelines of an actually football game. And for a new girl, that was pretty impressive. Not to mention the finishing split.

"Nice!" Bryce commented, a comment that had his mother and Sophie pinch his ears for staring at the girl a bit too hard. "Ow, okay!"

"Forget what I said about Avery, that girl knocked it out of the park." Veronica whispered to Kenzie, who watched Anabelle await for her critique speechlessly. And Kenzie wasn't the only one. Everyone that was planning on trying out were clearly worried for their chances, murmuring to themselves and others. Even Kitty was nervous for both Kenzie and Avery.

"Sit." Bree finally spoke, before quietly taking notes.

* * *

"Enter the McKinley Titans, who look rather strapping and fine as hell in their gym uniforms today, ladies." Veronica introduced as a flock of guys had came out of the locker rooms after pumping it up in the weight room. Meanwhile, with the group of kids who managed to catch Bree's eye and approval, she decided to split the group in two. All that was left first group were just starting to relax and take a break while the second group were just starting their warm-ups. The Cheerios were told to stand by and stay put after Bree made her cuts for the second time.

"Is Coach Lipoff always such a tyrant?" Avery panted as she approached her sister and her friends, slouching down on the bleachers.

"Not always." Sophie answered, though with a bit of doubt.

"You think she's tough? You should see how her husband coaches the guys." Kenzie pointed at the adult with a whistle and a clipboard.

Every year, everyone on the football team had to try-out again. That was just how Coach Phil Lipoff operated. Most of the guys didn't mind, seeing as how they were use to it by now and most of the guys still had their original positions from the previous year. That didn't mean Phil wasn't hard on the guys though.

Avery managed to spot one familiar face and waved for his attention. "Good luck, Ryan!"

The brunette male turned hearing his name called and approached the bleachers, looking up to Avery, Kenzie, Veronica, and Sophie. "Thanks, but I don't need luck. Not with these guns."

"Oh, your toy guns?" Avery said with a laugh, with Veronica and Sophie giggling along while Kenzie shook her head at the immature comeback.

"Haha, Avery." Ryan replied.

"If you're anything like your brother, I'm sure you'll make the team!" Sophie encouraged with an optimistic smile.

"Yeah, thanks." Ryan responded, glancing down at the field below him for a moment.

"Ryan, hurry up!" A friend of Ryan's called after from the other side of the field. Though he was a year older than Ryan, he stood a few inches shorter compared to the freshman, who was 5'8.

"Luke, shut up, I'm coming!" He yelled back. "Alright, see ya tomorrow, Avery."

"Bye Ryan!" Avery called out again as Ryan had already turned around and jogged toward the sophomore.

"Someone's got a thing for the Puckerman boy, I see." Veronica turned to the freshman girl.

"No!" Avery quickly answered. "We're just best friends, we've been best friends since the first grade."

"Oh please, that doesn't mean anything! My moms were best friends before they started going at it like rabbits."

"Ronnie!" Kenzie said in an almost motherly tone, letting her know the conversation was going a bit too far.

"What? She's in high-school already! I'm pretty sure she knows all about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and all of the STDs involved. Right?" Veronica asked, to which Avery confirmed with a head nod. "See?"

"We're friends and nothing more."

"I don't know, there is a lot of statistics on friends marrying each other. Like did you know that by the time you turn sixteen, there's an eighty percent chance you've already met the person you're going to marry? Just look at our parents alone!" Sophie rambled on.

"I'm still fourteen, I've got two years left! We're friends and that's it!" Avery reassured again.

* * *

"Girlfriend wished you good luck?" Luke teased playfully as the guys stood in a single file line facing the bleachers and the coach, who was preoccupied with whatever was on his clipboard while pacing back and forth.

"And that's why I'm not telling you what Sophie told me." Ryan stated as he waved over at the four girls he had just left, who all waved back to his convenience.

"Sophie said something about me?" Luke immediately assumed, his blue eyes popped out of his head.

"I don't know, maybe I should ask my girlfriend..."

"C'mon, you know I was just playing and you know how I feel about Sophie!" Luke said, hushed.

"She said if you're anything like your brother, she's sure you'd make the team."

"Real...wait, I don't have a brother."

"That's because she was talking about me."

On Ryan's right stood Bryce, who snickered to himself until he met the glare of the freshman and sophomore friend duo once they realized he was eavesdropping onto their conversation.

"Careful Ryan, Snoopy's here. We wouldn't want our personal information leaked to everyone in the Lima, Ohio area!" Luke turned to Ryan as he placed his arm over the boy's shoulder and leaned a bit on him.

"Really? Damn," Ryan played along, "guess it just comes to show that some people just can't mind their own damn business." He then directed to Bryce in a much more serious tone and facial expression.

"Relax, I won't tell anyone." Bryce verified. "And besides, The Lima Gazette has a policy for posting things without any tangible evidence anyway. It was only hear-say." He mumbled the rest, mainly to himself.

"Shouldn't you be off interviewing the Chess Club or something?" Luke asked mockingly.

"Not until their first after-school meeting. If you must know, Hudson and Puckerman, I'm trying out for the team."

"You're joking, right?"

"No, Ryan, I'm not." Bryce answered. "If I can make at least second string, that'll land me a free VIP and all kinds of exclusive interviews with everyone on the team and everyone we're up against."

"That's actually...not a bad idea." Luke admitted hesitantly. "But your dad doesn't let many freshmen on the varsity team; I would know, I was one of the few last year."

"Relax, it's not any different from what we've been doing with Mr. Hudson in the summer." The three underclassmen turned their heads to confirm that the piece of advice came from the eldest Puckerman son that approached the boys, Alexander Puckerman. "You'll make the team."

"Only because your brother's the Quarterback." Caleb chimed in, who slumped and leaned on Ryan's other shoulder.

"You're one to talk, considering that last year was the first year you made varsity." Bryce shot back.

"So? Most of the guys on varsity were recruited in their sophomore year."

"Yes, but most of the guys on varsity also got their desired positions. But I guess you wouldn't know what that's like, would you?" Bryce continued, getting both Luke and Ryan to laugh and Xander to suck in his lips to refrain from doing so.

"I thought you'd never show up!"

After Caleb sighed in resentment, and before he could attempt to walk way, the five guys all saw Phil approach another student that they hadn't recognized at all. His blond hair was more of a bleached blond compared to Xander's golden locks. And he was definitely taller than the three underclassmen.

"Hot new guy alert!" Veronica announced as the group of girls continue to watch the guys, or rather, the new kid on the block. Sophie and Kenzie nodded in agreement with their teammate while Avery had more of a furrowed look on her face. He was cute at the least in Avery's eyes, but the way he carried himself just didn't sit right with her.

"I'm sorry for being late, I'm still not use to the time-zone difference." The boy surprised everyone with a British accent as he shook the coach's hand.

"Better late than never, but it better not happen again." Phil warned lightly.

"Your dad's never that nice to newcomers, what gives?" Caleb asked quietly, to which Bryce only answered with a shrug.

"Do you guys not understand what a single file line is?" Phil then turned to the group of five, who immediately straightened up before he could get angry. "For those who were wondering, this is Henry Mcflee, he just moved to Lima from the Big Ben yesterday. He will be trying out like the rest of you, and could very well be a player on this team, so watch out and give him a McKinley welcome."

The guys clapped, though halfheartedly, as Henry made room for himself between Caleb and Ryan, who didn't seem to mind.

"Alright, today we'll start with-" Phil began flipping through the papers on his clipboard before groaning. "I left it on my desk. Wait here until I get back." He ordered as he was already on his way.

"So why'd you move to Lima of all places?" Ryan asked.

"Why does it matter to you, twit?" Henry responded, receiving a high-five from Caleb.

"I was only trying to be nice." Ryan informed, something that was constantly told to him from both his parents and Xander himself.

"Nice? I'm your competition. If we're both trying out for the same position, only one of us can have it so there's no point in trying to be friendly."

"I'd still smoke you anyway. Your version of football involves a black and white spotted ball and your feet. A chump sport, really." Ryan fired back, receiving his high-five from Luke.

"You have a point. American Football isn't as big in England as it is here in the Colonies," Henry agreed to, "but even then, I'd still show you up, mate."

Most of the guys, and even most of the Cheerios that watched, jumped at the piercing sound of Phil's whistle to get his team's attention. "Alright, boys, let's get started!"

Soon after, all of the guys were drenched in sweat from all of the drills that Phil had set up. There were ten drill stations set up and after two minutes, Phil blew the whistle to signal the students to change stations in a clockwise fashion. The potential football team was broken into groups of five or six based on where they stood in the line, leaving Luke, Caleb, Bryce, Ryan, and Henry to all be grouped together.

Henry proved himself to be a worthy future member of the team as he went through the drills without breaking a sweat, and with the look on Phil's face so far, he had his approval. And though Ryan was athletic also, Henry had managed to best him in most of the drills the two had completed together thus far.

Another sharp whistle was blown. "One minute break!"

Both Henry and Ryan took a quick breather as they stood in front of the tires lain on the field, stretching before the coach could blow his whistle again.

"What are you trying out for anyway?"

"Wide receiver, why?" Ryan let out while panting as he rested his hands on his knees, bending over. Immediately, the freshman shot up once Phil blew the whistle again.

Ryan and Henry were neck and neck as they began to quickly step in and out of the tires.

"Because now I know what position I'm stealing from you, lad." Henry answered midway through the trail of tires, only to mess with Ryan. Doing so successfully, Ryan fell face first into the next tire in front of him as Henry progressed to the end.

Before he could attempt to get up on his own, Luke manage to grab his friend and dragged him to the end before Caleb could trample him as he were merely inches behind the defeated freshman.

"You alright?" Henry asked with a smug grin.

"Fine, really." Ryan answered, though the glare toward the sophomore said otherwise.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Like every year, September 5th crept up on all the students who were attending William McKinley High School. Three months of staying up late, sleeping in, tanning, and just chilling out under the hot summer sun and doing whatever you wanted to do all went by in a blink of eye.

That Tuesday, Carla Hudson was disruptively awaken by a yell that only one woman had the nerve to wake everyone up at 5:45 a.m. Who needed an alarm clock?

"Carly, rise and shine! It's the first day of your junior year!" Her mother felt the need to remind her as she walked into her daughter's room.

"Mom, school doesn't start until 8:50. Like every year." Carly said, with her eyes still closed as she continued to lay on her side.

"And what better way to start prepping for the day than to start it early? Studies have shown that early risers are more proactive and optimistic. And besides, the early bird gets the worm." Rachel continued as she approached her daughter's bed.

"But the second mouse gets the cheese."

"Carly, you're already up-"

"No, I'm not-"

"Carly!"

"Fine." Carly reluctantly shot up her torso, her brown eyes glaring right at her mother. "I might as well be use to it."

But then again, who could get use to waking up at quarter til six every weekday?

"That's the spirit!" Rachel smiled brightly. "Breakfast will be ready in a few. I'll go check Ryan and Luke."

"Ugh, Ryan's still here?"

The boys were practically inseparable and each other's families acted like their second. Finn was definitely a big help for Ryan while his dad was overseas, and Luke felt at ease with Xander around and really seemed to look up to him too.

"He didn't want to go home to tell his mom that he made second string while Xander's still the starting Quarterback."

"That's why he was PMSing?" Carly asked quietly with a guilty smile.

"Don't you say anything!"

"Okay." Carly agreed after sighing, getting up out of bed to stretch for a bit before she headed downstairs.

"Can you also drive him to school?" Rachel yelled from Carly's room.

"There's barely any room in the truck for us three and our stuff!" Carly said as she appeared right at her doorway.

"Can't he ride in the bed?"

"Yeah, if I'm driving under 25 miles an hour! He's only fourteen!"

"Then you better be careful." Finn yelled from the kitchen, only to get Rachel laughing while Carly shook her head no.

Marching down the stairs to actually make it to the dining area, Carly was later accompanied by both Ryan and Luke as they made their way to the table.

"Lucky! She never lets me ride in the back!"

"Riding in the bed of Carly Hudson's truck. My reputation'll be over before I walk in the building." Ryan teased, receiving a high-five from Luke and a disapproving glare from Luke's dad.

"You don't even have a reputation to maintain, second string." Carly smiled smugly as she witnessed the priceless look on both Ryan's and Luke's faces.

"Carly!" Rachel called out from the staircase.

"He asked for it." Carly shrugged, her mouth partially full of the scrambled eggs served on her plate.

"And besides, popularity isn't everything." After Finn said those five words, everything fell silent as the three kids all sent their disbelieving glares toward the adult male. "What?"

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Quarterback. People want to be liked, it's human nature." Carly admitted.

"But what would you know about human nature?" Luke teased with a smug grin. "Ow!" He called out, after getting kicked in the leg.

"Sorry, I was stretching." Carly batted her eyes and mockingly pouted her lips.

"I need to stretch too!" Luke said with an angry glare.

"Hey!" Finn finally put to halt, pointing at both of his children before any more shots were fired...or kicked.

"Did my mom drop my stuff off?"

"Yeah, it's on the sofa." Rachel replied as she arrived at the table. "What time is it? I don't wanna be late, especially on the first day."

"5:47. We still have plenty of time before we have to go in." Finn reassured.

"The staff wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I'm not the first one there."

"Well maybe if you didn't brag about it all time."

"What?"

"Nothing." Finn said into his glass of orange juice, while Carly, Luke, and Ryan giggled and chuckled to themselves.

* * *

"I don't think this skirt is very...school appropriate." Beth examined in the bathroom of the guest room, sliding her hands down the pencil skirt. "What do you think, Mimi? Does this say teacher's assistant or college grad whore?"

Beth's cousin, Miriam Puckerman, sat idly on the guest room bed, helping Beth out on her first day on the job as her mother's teaching assistant. In return, Beth promised to help Mimi for her first day as a high-school student at William McKinley.

Mimi squinted at the young adult. "You're not wearing leggings, are you?"

"No."

"College grad whore." Mimi said with a laugh that got Beth to join in too.

"You're right, I should've stuck with the slacks." Beth grabbed the dark gray pants that went well with the lighter gray cardigan and walked inside the bathroom to change.

"Mom said breakfast is ready." Mimi's older brother, Elias, had announced as he walked inside the guest room. "Where's-"

"In the bathroom." Mimi pointed at the closed door.

"Beth, Mom wants us to leave around 8! How long is this going to take?"

"Relax, Eli, I'm dressed." Beth opened the door to reveal her full ensemble. A white long sleeve blouse under her cardigan and tucked into her pants, with black leather flats that had piano keys designed on the toes. "How do I look?"

"Okay?"

"I _see_ why you picked me to help you." Mimi winked her right brown eye, receiving a giggling reaction from Beth.

"Blind jokes are not funny." Beth tried to convince herself and Mimi, though the grins on their faces didn't buy it.

"It wouldn't be funny if it were someone else talking about you." Eli explained to his younger sister, who didn't exactly agree with her sense of humor.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not blind." She again winked her right eye with her pretty smile. And technically, Mimi was right, she wasn't _completely_ blind. Her eyesight in her right eye was 20/300, meaning what the average person can see at 300 feet away, she would have to be 20 feet away from it to see it just as clearly. Her left eye was as blind as a bat however.

"Breakfast's getting cold!" Marley announced from the kitchen.

That was Mimi's, Eli's, and Beth's cue to head downstairs.

The trio made it to the table as Marley quickly set the plates and sat down with her family.

"Uncle Jake left already?"

"He had to be in by 6:50." Marley answered.

"That's my sister for you."

"Are your excited for your first day of high-school?" Marley then directed toward her daughter with a bright, optimistic smile.

"Very excited!"

"You're not missing out on anything, trust me." Eli advised with his mouth full. Beth then playfully hit her cousin on his shoulder. Chewing and swallowing most of what was in his mouth, Eli stuck his tongue out while a bit of chewed grits stuck. "Happy?"

"Ew!" Beth called out, cringing as Eli started closing in. Once he caught his mother's glance, the junior had gone back to eating his breakfast silently.

"This is the first time Avery and I have gone to the same school together since kindergarten. I can't wait!"

Avery had only one true female friend, a best friend actually. And that girl was Mimi Puckerman. Seeing as their parents were so close, it wasn't a shocker to see the girls click so well, despite their very different personalities. Sometimes opposites just attract.

"Have any classes together?" Beth asked next.

"Three! Algebra, English, and I convinced her to take Chorus with me. Plus, she's in my homeroom!"

"Three out of six ain't bad." Eli gave Mimi a high-five across the table, after swallowing down his last piece of bacon. "Didn't she join the Cheerios?"

"Yeah, her mom made her. She thinks she needs more female friends."

"Ah, Kitty Lynn." Marley said with a heartfelt laugh, dumping off her plate in the kitchen sink. "Oh, and Mimi, I've packed your lunch, packed your bags, and made four copies of the school map in case you lost out there today!" Marley showcased, lifting up said items from the counter (and her bag from the floor) in order.

"Uh-"

"Mom, I think Mimi will be fine on her own." Eli chimed in as he witnessed the nervous smile curl on his sister's lips. "Plus she's got me, Avery, Beth, Xander, Ryan, Kenzie even-"

"Nothing wrong with a little preparation." Marley interrupted as she cleaned the stove area while Eli mouthed "sorry" to Mimi, who smiled at him in return. "C'mon guys, it's almost ten til!"

"And we've got to get you dressed!" Beth quickly grabbed the visually impaired girl and hauled her up the stairs to her room once she realized they were both finished (or close to it at least).

* * *

"You weren't going under 25!" Ryan yelled as Carly had pulled into the seeming packed student parking lot. And to think that if the three hadn't fought over who got the hallway bathroom first, they'd already be in the main school building.

"Does he ever shut up or is he always this obnoxious?"

"Eh, he's not that bad." Luke shrugged with a chuckle.

"Yeah, compared to Satan." Carly mumbled as she took a right to find a parking space. Taking a second look around, Carly drove in to the next parking spot that caught her eye that time around, somehow managing to squeeze her truck in between two cars.

"Nice board by the way." Ryan hopped out of the back with Carly's skateboard. "May I?"

Carly locked the doors to her light blue truck. "Don't break it."

"No promises!" He yelled as he was off, rolling around the parking lot and dodging every car and person that came in sight. Or at least attempted to as he successfully missed all of the cars but occasionally bumped into the students who were either on their way inside or catching up with their friends as they hung out by their cars.

"Alright, Ryan, that's enough!" Carly yelled, as she was as agitated as the other students he rammed into.

"Luke, go long!"

Ryan tossed the junior's skateboard like a football. Going deep and running to the back of the parking lot, Luke caught it successfully with his right hand.

Carly hid her face behind her right head. "Oh God."

"That's second string for you!" Ryan laughed before walking inside the school building.

Carly sighed as she approached Luke. "Luke, could you just please pass it here?"

"I would," Luke began with a smirk that didn't settle well with Carly, "but I have to stretch."

Luke immediately placed the skateboard on the ground and kicked it under the cars on the opposite side of the parking lot. "See ya, sis." He patted Carly on the back.

"See ya, bro." Carly replied, slapping the back of Luke's head. Luke laughed as he watched Carly fetch her skateboard, who was clearly fed up with his crap. Siblings would be siblings, right?

Her skateboard continued to roll into another empty parking lot that was soon to be occupied by another vehicle. Carly stood in front of the white Mazda 3 and waited for the driver to get out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is there a problem?" Anabelle asked, sticking her head out of the car.

"My ass of a brother kicked my skateboard under your car."

"Siblings sound like fun." Anabelle said with a giggle.

"You don't want any, trust me."

Turning the key in the ignition and placing the car in reverse, she slowly backed up her car until Carly could retrieve it. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"You new here?" Carly asked once Anabelle stepped out of the car.

"First time in Ohio, I'm Anabelle." She greeted happily.

"Carly." She accepted the handshake with a smile. "Need any help getting around?"

"Actually, I couldn't find my locker yesterday for the life of me."

"Cool, I'll help. Let me just put this back."

Watching both Carly and Anabelle as they headed for Carly's truck, Grayson Pierce-Lopez had just arrived in the student parking lot via shot gun of Veronica's car; their other sister, Desiree, was stuck sitting reluctantly in the back while she was on the phone getting an earful from Santana.

"Who's that?" Gray nudged his head in the female duo's direction as they were headed to the school building.

"Carly Hudson? We've only known her for our whole lives since our parents are friends, despite the occasional comments about Carly's mom from Mami." Veronica answered as they all got out of Veronica's black Volkswagen EOS. "And you're supposed to be the smart one."

"No, not Carly. The Cheerio she was with!"

"Oh! I don't remember. But I think it's French for...'off limits'?" Veronica smiled with a wink as the three were on their way inside as well. Gray sighed. "You know the rules, Gray, you can't date any of my girls on the squad."

"That's never stopped me before." Gray said with his smugly crooked grin.

"And that's never stopped them from taking it out on me when you leave 'em heartbroken. I can't get them ready for Nationals this year if their head is too occupied with your crouch and not in the game."

"What interesting and modern love triangle you caught yourselves in." Rae surprised her siblings from behind as they all stopped to witness. "That is, if you can even call it love."

"What?"

"You think the new girl's hot too! It was pretty obvious when I saw you staring at her." Rae answered her sister. "I don't blame you though, I'd hit it."

"Well, I did see her first..." Veronica said in a singsongy tone.

_"PUT THE PHONE ON SPEAKER!"_ Santana yelled into Rae's right ear, causing both of her biological kids to flinch while Rae just rolled her blue-gray eyes. "_Instead of getting all hot and bothered for the new girl in town and debating on who gets to bang her first, how about you two make sure that your sister auditions for Glee today?"_

"You're auditioning for Glee Club?" Veronica and Gray asked, their eyes popped out of their head like a cartoon.

Both Veronica and Gray were only two of the six members of the idle Glee Club under Marley Puckerman's direction since Gavin left in his freshman year. Veronica loved the stories that their moms had told about their glory high-school days and how it had made them to who they were today.

Meanwhile, Gray saw it as an opportunity to boost his GPA while attracting the ladies. Who doesn't love a good-looking guy that sings?

"Well I'm not joining the Cheerios."

_"Record it then send it to me. I'll see you when you get home!" _Santana demanded, her voice dripping in annoyance._ "I love you all, have a good day school. Keep it all in your pants and skirts. Bye."_

"Bye Mami!" Veronica yelled before Rae could hang up. "Mind telling us what you did now that you're in a talking mood? Mami was furious!"

"It wasn't that bad."

"She was yelling in Spanish, Des." Gray reminded.

"And she only ever does that when she's in court or if you fucked up. And obviously, you fucked up." Veronica continued to her younger sister.

"Let's just say Mother will need to find a new temporary mode of transportation, okay?" Rae ended at that, before strutting inside the school in a somewhat irritated fashion.

"Think Ma'll tell us when we get home?"

"Probably." Veronica shrugged uncertainly as she and Gray both arrived inside simultaneously. "And we can always get it out of Mom if Mami doesn't say anything."

"True."

"Hey guys!"

The junior and sophomore duo looked away from each other to find their Glee Club director beckoning the two to come in the choir room. They accompanied three of their teammates, Eli, Sophie, and a blond fellow named Charles Abrams, as well as Beth, who was sitting on top of the piano.

"Working on AP World?" Gray asked as he took the seat next to Sophie.

"I finished last night, I'm studying for the quiz today."

"On the first day?" Eli couldn't believe, to which both Gray and Sophie nodded affirmatively.

"Where's Carly?" Beth asked after checking the short class role.

"I think she's showing the new girl around. They walked in from the parking lot together."

"Anabelle from yesterday?" Sophie turned to Veronica, who nodded. "They walked down the hall together not too long ago."

"One of you can bring her up to speed. Let's talk Glee Club!" Marley radiated with a smile as she walked over to Beth. "Lately, we as a club haven't been very active."

"That's the understatement of the year." Veronica blurted out, stirring a few laughs from the group.

"We need at least three more members before the end of this month. And if this year is as productive as the last few, Principal Schuester will pull the plug for good." Marley continued, her tone becoming a little more depressed.

"Our sister's back home and she's being forced to audition and join." Gray announced.

"Then there's goes our three members, if Carly doesn't leave!" Beth cheered, happily high-fiving her aunt.

"So what else are we gonna do about it?" Charlie asked.

"Last year and the year before, we just sat around basically! We were all talk and no walk, all bark and no bite! This year, we're getting serious!" Marley said, getting the groove of her determined smile back. "And that's where Beth comes in."

"Hi!" Beth happily greeted the five kids, all but Eli waved back, since she was temporarily living him anyway.

"Sometimes, a non-functioning team just needs new management. A fresh pair of eyes to offer new, inspiring ideas. Which is why, I'm proud to announce that Beth will be taking over as assistant director."

The five students then joined Marley as they clapped happily while Beth bowed politely.

"And my first order of business is to have you guys re-audition today."

"What?!" The five students then let out simultaneously in an uproar.

"If we're getting serious, we want to see if you have potential."

"But Mom-"

"Mrs. Puckerman!" Marley reminded.

"But Mrs. Puckerman, we hadn't prepared anything!" Eli repeatedly corrected.

"And what about the auditions today?" Sophie added.

"We pushed the auditions to tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week. The re-auditions will happen today after school, so you guys will have plenty of time to come up with something." Marley reassured to the students.

"Who are the other two students that are joining?" Gray asked next.

"You guys remember Mr. and Mrs. Evans?" Marley asked the students.

"Who could forget Mr. Evans' beautiful...everything?" Veronica then turned to Sophie, who high-fived each other and shared a laugh. Could you blame her? Sam wasn't a model (or, unbeknownst to the kids, a stripper) because of his personality...

"I thought they lived in New York?"

"Actually Charlie, they moved back! Their kids, Melody and Anthony, will be auditioning tomorrow!" Marley informed. "Any other questions?" The room fell silent as the five glanced at each other to see if anyone else had anything to say. "Great, then I'll see you guys later today in the auditorium! Make sure one of you tell Carly about what's going on."

"We will." Eli volunteered with a raised hand as he pointed between him and Charlie.

"And Veronica and Sophie, do you think you two could talk Gav into coming back again?"

"No promises, Mrs. P. Once he gets bored, he's gone. It's only a matter of time until his lazy ass quits the Cheerios too." Veronica replied.

"At least try?"

"Like every year, Mrs. Puckerman." Sophie playfully saluted to her director.

Marley smiled. With Melody, Anthony, and now Rae joining Glee Club, she'd be able to make the nine member minimum her employer had assigned to keep the club alive.

Maybe this was gonna work out after all...

* * *

"Do you know where Mr. Jones' room is?" Anthony appeared on Melody's right as the two were headed for their second period class.

"I think it's back there."

"Nah, that's his wife's classroom." Anthony shook his head no. "And is it just me, or do people tend to stare?"

"Aww, little Ant doesn't like the attention after all." Melody teased in a baby-talk voice while brushing her hand through Anthony's hair. He was quick to smack it away second later. "We're the new kids, what do you expect?"

"I know I'm ruggedly handsome, but it's still rude to stare!" Anthony shrugged casually before Melody had playfully pushed him. "I'll find him on my own."

"Good luck, lose-"

While Melody turned to insult Anthony once he decided to take a right in hopes to get to class on time, she dealt with a head-on collision with another, much taller person.

"Sorry, that was my fault."

"No, I didn't see where I was going either." Gav apologized. "I wouldn't have bumped into you if I saw the pretty blonde walking down the hallway sooner."

"What pretty-" Melody turned around, only to realize what the male Cheerio meant, "Oh! I see what you did there, nice! Thanks, you're not so bad yourself."

"Gavin, but everyone calls me Gav."

"Melody." She said as she offered her right hand for a handshake. Without a second to spare, Gav accepted it gladly and shook it.

"We should probably let each other go now."

"Yeah." Gav said with a laugh, brushing his left hand off on his Cheerio designed shirt.

"So you're on the Cheerios?" Melody poked the junior's chest.

"Obviously." Gav answered. "And if that's subtle way of asking, no, I'm not gay."

"Great!" Melody responded a bit too quickly, leaving a furrowed look on Gav's face. "Not that there's anything wrong with being gay or anything. Love you who you love, you know?"

"Cool. Maybe we should hang out sometime? I could show your around town or whatever." Gav played off well with his casual shrug and his calm expression.

"Sure, so long as it doesn't interfere with your practices or anything."

"That won't be much of a problem."

"You sure? Your coach seemed like a real hard-ass at open house."

"My coach?"

"Yeah, how can you stand her?" Melody continued. "She seems so bossy and uptight and acts if she's better than everyone else."

"Sure, she's strict, but you learn to live with it." Gav defended his mother calmly.

"No way in hell I could."

"But then again, that's probably because she's my mother." Gav finished, brushing by Melody to get to his original destination as the warning bell rang.

"I didn't know, I'm sorry!" Melody yelled. Gav didn't bother to turn around like she hoped he would. "Great first day so far, Mel." She sighed to herself, power-walking through the sea of students who were still trying to get to class.

* * *

Then, before anyone in McKinley knew, it was already lunch time. And with Melody's luck, she hadn't been invited to sit with anyone, so today she was riding solo.

Or maybe that didn't have to be the case.

Once she got her lunch, Melody took a sweep of the cafeteria area. Cluttered, for a small town like Lima. Every table, whether circular or rectangular, had at least three or more sitting there. And from what the junior could see outside in the courtyard through the windows, it was worse.

Walking through to just find a place to sit, Melody came across an unattended circular table toward the back. Approaching the table, she arrived at the same time as another guy. Slowly the two had place their trays down and pulled out their chairs in front of them to sit.

"Look," Melody begun, "I don't see why we both can't sit here!" She said, a bit fed up with the way the guy had eyed her.

"Me neither," Eli agreed, "I'm just really curious about you."

"Why?"

"Because most of the people that come in twenty feet of Eli run in the opposite direction." Carly answered as she took her usual seat on Eli's right as he nodded in agreement.

"Again, why? It's not like you killed anyone, right?"

"No, but we wouldn't be surprised if that were another rumor going around about him." Charlie interrupted that time, taking a seat on Eli's left.

"Wow. That must suck."

"You get use to it...kinda." Eli said lightly. "Enough about me though, what's your name, new kid?"

"Melody."

"Evans?" The trio of friends asked simultaneously.

"Yeah..." She answered, scooting her chair a few inches from the table. "How did you-"

"You're one of us, then." Carly said as she pointed at herself, Eli, and Charlie, only to see a confused expression on Melody's face. "One or both of your parents were in Glee Club with ours. You don't remember us from the reunions we had in the summer when were kids?"

"You do look familiar." Melody noticed as she glanced between the three. "Your mom is Mrs. Puckerman, you have her eyes."

Eli nodded. "Yup."

"And your parents are the Hudsons. You have a brother around the same age as Anthony, you guys use to visit us alot." Melody continued.

"Carly Hudson, guilty as charged." She waved with smile.

"And your parents are both in wheelchairs, your dad's a director." Melody finished with Charlie, who nodded as well.

"Name's Charlie." He introduced. "How's your first day?"

"Well, I insulted the first cute guy I met's mother without knowing it and I kinda miss home. So, pretty great!" Melody mocked a smile, humoring the trio with giggles and chuckles.

"Welcome to William McKinley." Carly said sarcastically. "Are your parents making you audition for Glee Club?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman guilt tripped me into it. I'm just gonna wing it."

"Well, the auditions today are postponed to tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week." Eli announced. "The returning members have to re-audition today for the new assistant coach, Beth."

"Ugh, great. I may not even re-audition." Carly moaned, her mouth partially full of what was left of her grilled chicken sandwich.

"Why not?" Melody asked, to the group's surprise.

"Last year we only held four meetings. It's dying, whether we like it or not." Carly replied, a bit hesitantly.

Melody wanted to change the subject once she immediately saw the upset expressions and frowns that all three of the students were showcasing. Was Carly right? The situation couldn't be that bad, but then again what would the new girl know?

"Is it just you three in Glee?" Melody suddenly asked.

"There's six of us." Eli said.

"Their parents were in Glee too." Charlie added

"Who are they?"

The trio looked around the cafeteria to see if they could spot any of their teammates, too occupied to think about the Glee Club's failure over the years now.

Carly then spotted two of their members. "Over there, by the table full of jocks and Cheerios. You see 'em?"

"Yeah?"

"The short brown haired girl is Veronica Pierce-Lopez. She's in Glee Club with us."

"Pierce-Lopez, like the lesbian couple?"

"Exactly." Charlie grinned from ear to ear as he received a playful hit from both Carly and Melody.

"And yes, even though she's sitting at the table full of the most hated kids in school, she's actually very nice until you give her a reason not to be. She's cool with mostly everyone and isn't afraid to speak her mind." Carly warned the new girl as they watched Veronica converse with Kenzie, Xander, Sophie and a few others.

"Sophie's in Glee too." said Eli.

"And which one's Sophie?"

"Sophie Chang, the only Asian at that table." Carly answered, seeing as the other two didn't want to be as blunt. "Her dad's probably the best dancer to ever come out of this hellhole of a school. She's no Mike Chang but she can get down too."

"And so can Carly, if she ever bothered to show you." Charlie complimented.

"She's practically her own one-man band. She sings..." Eli begun.

"...dances..."

"...plays the guitar..."

"...the drums..."

"And taught herself piano." Eli finished, after he and Charlie went back and forth about Carly's musical talents. "Which is why she could re-audition with us!"

"Anyone can teach themselves the piano, it's really not that big of a deal." Carly defended as she shook her head in denial.

"It is when you're four." Eli reminded.

Melody then started counting on her fingers. "You said there were six, where's the last one?"

"Veronica's younger brother, Grayson." Carly replied. "And he's right over...there." She spotted the teenager with another group of guys who were all dressed like him, preppy.

"Which one?"

"The Taylor Lautner look a-like with the stormy blue eyes." Carly described in better detail.

"Stormy blue? Taylor Lautner?" Eli repeated. "A bit descriptive for someone that works your last nerve." He teased.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's a F-L-I-R-T, flirt. Goes through girls as if he was a ghost." Carly said, clearly repulsed.

"He's got the looks to pull it off though." Melody stated. Then, she spotted a familiar face at the same table that had hers and her new friends' attention. "My brother's at that table."

"The kid in the green cardigan?" Charlie asked.

"It's blue." Melody corrected.

"I'm kinda colorblind, I mix up blues and greens."

"Well, I'm done." Carly said as she got up to dispose her tray and trash.

"I'll go with, these fries are cardboard!" Melody cringed, swallowing the last few fries in her mouth. She followed the junior girl to the trash bins that was on the other side of the cafeteria from where the the group was sitting.

"Carly!"

The two turned around, only to find Bree approaching the two.

"Stalker much." Melody said with a "cough".

"I didn't see you at try-outs yesterday!" Bree continued with a plastered smile on her face. "You can still try-out if you want!"

"I don't plan on it, Coach Lipoff."

"That's funny, because I heard your mother wanted you to become more involved with school extra curriculars. And yet, you weren't in the choir room during homeroom."

"Yup, I'm definitely filing for a restraining order..."

"This doesn't involve you, Blondie. Beat it." Bree finally dropped the charade as she turned to Melody. Melody stood her ground while Bree turned back to Carly with her fake, forced smile she was well known for. "So when should I schedule a private try-out session?"

"I wasn't in homeroom because I was showing one of your Cheerios around. She was new, she needed help."

"And my friend here's also planning on re-auditioning later today." Melody spoke up. "You don't want wanna miss it, right Carly?"

"Uh, yeah. It's gonna be great!" Carly forced a smile and nodded.

"Alright then, I'll see you there." Bree stated, though she didn't sound very convinced.

Both Melody and Carly sighed in relief as the coach had finally left the cafeteria.

"Why is she even allowed to teach here?" Melody finally asked, causing the two to burst into laughter. "Guess you have no choice but to re-audition today."

"Guess so." Carly agreed. "And thanks for that."

"No problem." Melody said, as the two high-fived while they were on their way back to the guys.

* * *

"She made it! Alert the presses!" Gray announced over-dramatically as Carly arrived backstage through the backdoor. He, along with the other four returning Glee Club members, were warming up for their re-audition pieces for Beth and Marley.

"Miss anything?"

The other five shook their heads no.

Charlie peeked through the close curtains to see what Beth and Marley were up to. "Beth and Mrs. Puckerman won't be the only ones watching us."

"Who else is out there?" Sophie asked as she stretched her arms and legs.

"Coach Lipoff, Daniel, and Carly's mom."

"Daniel? Who's Daniel?" Veronica asked.

"Lily's older brother. My second cousin." Charlie responded.

Carly had lightly pushed Charlie out of the way to get a look for herself. "My mom _is_ out there!" Carly began to panic, her eyes bulging out of her head.

"My mom's out there, it's not that big of deal." Eli confronted, placing his hand on Carly's shoulder. "And besides, we all have to go out there and face her."

"Yeah, and she'll begin making lists of everything we did wrong. The only difference between me and you guys is that you don't have to hear her lecture on for hours on just how you appeared on stage."

"Not any more anyway. Gold Star alums!" Veronica cheered, high-fiving her brother, only to receive Carly's glare. "Oh right, sorry."

"And Coach isn't going to make the situation any less nerve-racking." Sophie took a quick look at Bree, who was chatting with Rachel.

Carly walked out of the closed curtains. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"I had some free-time at work and Mrs. Lipoff told me you were re-auditioning and I miss the first one in your freshman year. I wouldn't miss this one for the world." Rachel happily explained. Carly groaned at Bree's smug smile, then she hid behind the closed curtains went backstage with the rest of her friends and peers.

"Well, I guess you all figured it out! We've got a few guest judges who'll be taking notes of your performances today as well! So let's get started!" Marley yelled from behind the red curtains. The students opened the curtains and turned on a few of the spotlights that shined down on the microphone, the microphone stand, and a wooden stool in case anyone wanted to sit.

"We'll call you randomly. First up, Veronica." Beth announced.

"Watch Carly, it won't be that bad." Veronica patting the junior girl on the shoulder.

Strutting on the stage and radiating her confidence proudly, Veronica knew she had this in the bag.

Or at least, until she saw who was seated on Beth's left once she made it behind the microphone stand. Daniel's eyes were as wide as his jaw once he saw the Cheerio walk on stage, and Veronica's expression was practically the same, though not as obvious.

"I don't remember Veronica having stage fright?" Carly whispered.

"She doesn't." Gray whispered back. "Psst, Veronica!"

Veronica looked over at Gray, who gestured to the five people at the judging table. Shaking her head, arms, and hands, Veronica was starting to come to.

"Sorry, I guess I was just thrown off with, uh, Coach Lipoff being here." Veronica finally spoke into the microphone, though Bree's suspecting glare didn't buy it one bit. The brunette looked down at the ground and took a breather. "Anyway, my name is the Veronica Pierce-Lopez and I'll be singing 'A Change Is Gonna Come' by _Sam Cooke_." She continued, doing her best to avoid eye-contact with the Principal's son.

Veronica turned to the band and sent a thumbs-up and a wink, cuing the soulful and sweet introduction. To better focus, the junior closed her eyes as both of her hands enveloped the mic.

**Veronica:  
****_I was born by the river in a little tent  
_****_Oh, and just like the river I've been running ever since_**

Veronica made a comeback. Her unique mezzo was warm, agile, light, and clear but a little raspy, which would showcase well in a song like that one. Gray couldn't help but to smile proudly at her strong start.

**_It's been a long, a long time coming_**  
**_But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will_  
**

The calm instrumental continued as did Veronica. Her riffs and long belts were executed very well, a shocked and surprised expression taking over Daniel's former nervous state.

**_It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die_**  
**_Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky_**

**_It's been a long, a long time coming_**  
**_But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will_**

The five other students were swaying to the beat backstage, raising their hands in the air as Veronica had hit the high note. It was clear she had a very good, wide range. Even Bree nodded in approval as Rachel, Beth, Marley, and even Daniel wore their proud smiles too.

**_Oooooooooooh  
There been times when I thought I couldn't last for long_**  
**_But now I think I'm able to carry on_**

**_It's been a long, a long time coming_**  
**_But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will_**

Veronica finally opened her eyes to the applause from those she stood before and the students backstage. Veronica curtsied politely in her Cheerios skirt to both of the audiences.

"You're not like your mother, but you were decent."

"I don't know what your coach is talking about, Veronica, I thought you were amazing!" Marley complimented. Rachel agreed with a nod as she and Beth took notes quietly.

"Thanks!" Veronica said. She then glanced over at Daniel, who looked back at her with guilt. "Um, can I go to the bathroom?"

"You don't have to ask, go ahead." Marley allowed.

"Cool." Veronica said as she exited stage right.

"I actually gotta go too!" Daniel shot up, running out of the auditorium quickly.

"We're taking five!" Beth yelled for the others to hear.

* * *

Veronica paced back and forth by the water fountain way across from the auditorium, impatiently waiting for Daniel as one of her white sneakers repeatedly tapped on the tile floor.

"Oh, there you are, Dan!" Veronica greeted sarcastically once he finally approached her.

"Yeah, you were great out there, Savannah!" Daniel replied back, crossing his arms. "You lied about your name and age?" He then asked in a hushed tone, looking around to make sure no one spotted the two.

"No, I really am a rising college freshman that was visiting during Orientation." Veronica replied. "Haven't you babysat for us once? How did you not recognize me?"

"You were seven years old, you were sick and asleep, and it was for a few hours! I just played video-games!" Daniel recited. "That was way before your body...changed." He eyed the girl up and down, before she titled the young adult's head up with her index finger. "God, I'm dead."

"The law says the legal age in Ohio is sixteen, so, technically, you're off the hook." Veronica whispered, getting a relieving sigh out of Daniel. She craned her neck and head back into the wall behind her. "If Lily and I still talked, she'd kill me."

"She's the last person we need to worry about. Your mom would be out for blood if she knew!"

"Mom is as harmless as a fly!"

"Your biological mother. Santana?"

"Oh, yeah, she'd kill you in a heartbeat then rip off your privates and feed 'em to Lord Tubbington The Second." Veronica said, only getting a nervous look from Daniel that time around.

"Look, I go back in a few weeks anyway. We'll just pretend this never happened and keep it between us." Daniel said. "What happens in the summer, stays in the summer."

"Agreed." Veronica stated, shaking the older boy's hand. "And, I'm sorry." She continued, before heading back to the auditorium.

"Wait, Veronica!" He called after. She stopped immediately and turned. "You were good out there!"

"I know!" Veronica smiled, confidently sashaying back to the auditorium and leaving a chuckling Daniel.

* * *

"Eli, you're up!" Beth called out.

The teacher's son sighed before finally walking on the stage. Unlike Veronica, he decided to take a seat and adjust the stand a bit to better work in his favor.

"Hi, I'm Eli Puckerman and I'll be singing 'I Don't Want To Be' by _Gavin DeGraw_." He said into the microphone.

"Great choice!" Marley immediately exclaimed, only to get a few questioning glances from Rachel and Bree. "I mean, when you're ready...Son."

Eli chuckled before he started to quickly inhale and exhale a few times. He sent a head nod toward the pianist's direction to get the song started.

**Eli:**  
_**I don't need to be anything other**_  
_**Than a prison guard's son**_  
_**I don't need to be anything other **_  
_**Than a specialist's son  
**__**I don't have to be anyone other  
**__**Than the birth of two souls in one  
**__**Part of where I'm going, is knowing where I'm coming from**_

Despite the fact that Eli was a tenor, he had a nice, deep, lower register during the first verse with only the piano playing as his accompaniment.

_**I don't want to be**_  
_**Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately**_  
_**All I have to do**_  
_**Is think of me and I have peace of mind**_  
_**I'm tired of looking 'round rooms**_  
_**Wondering what I've got to do**_  
_**Or who I'm supposed to be**_  
_**I don't want to be anything other than me**_

His voice shined during the chorus, allowing everyone to hear how clear, polished, and somewhat soulful he actually was. He had a soft but strong quality to his voice that gave him a nice tone.

_**I'm surrounded by liars everywhere I turn  
**__**I'm surrounded by imposters everywhere I turn  
**__**I'm surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn  
**__**Am I the only one who noticed?  
**__**I can't be the only one who's learned!**_

"I love this song." Sophie commented quietly on, nodding her head to the beat as did the other students. Everyone Eli was singing in front really seemed to enjoy the cover too, he really captured the appropriate emotion and mood that the song needed.

_**I don't want to be**_  
_**Anything other than what I've been trying to be lately**_  
_**All I have to do**_  
_**Is think of me and I have peace of mind**_

The frequent chords on the piano slowed down as Eli sang his way through the second run through of the first-half of the chorus, belting on the last note.

_**I'm tired of looking 'round rooms**_  
_**Wondering what I've got to do**_  
_**Or who I'm supposed to be**_  
_**I don't want to be anything other than me**_

Eli continued to belt a bit as he was finishing up his audition. After he finished, he managed to get the same amount of applause as Veronica from both audiences yet again, to which he couldn't help but to smile.

"Great job, Eli, that'll be all." Daniel complimented.

"Thanks!"

Eli received high-fives from all five of the students who waited backstage. While the adults were still writing and silently talking about Eli's audition, Carly pulled Eli aside.

"You should tell your mom."

"I just can't, she doesn't have to know." Eli disagreed.

"But no one deserves all that crap you've been through because of a few stupid rumors and mis-"

"I've got my problems, you've got yours!" Eli interrupted a bit harshly, before walking back to join the rest of the group.

* * *

**Sophie:  
_Ricochet, you take your aim_**  
_**Fire away, fire away**_  
_**You shoot me down but I won't fall**_  
_**I am titanium**_  
_**You shoot me down but I won't fall**_  
_**I am titanium**_

Sophie was called next after Eli, auditioning with _David Guetta_'s hit, "Titanium", featuring Sia. Her soft and sweet mezzo voice was able to do Sia and the song justice.

After the chorus, Sophie backed away from the microphone and the stand to freestyle for a bit across the stage, managing to add and execute hip-hop, ballet, and jazz moves all into one routine. It was stunning. Everyone had clapped to the beat of the instrumental, while a reluctant Bree tapped her foot silently to it.

_**I am titanium**_  
_**You shoot me down but I won't fall**_  
_**I am titanium**_

The music slowed down as Sophie headed for the mic, with only a piano playing behind her as she requested. Sophie decided to ad-lib a bit before ending her audition piece.

"Great job, Soph!" Marley praised once the applause died down.

"You might have your mother's looks but you definitely have your father's feet. He would've been so proud!" Rachel noted as well.

"Thanks!" Sophie said with a nervous smile. She bowed in front of those she had performed in front of, pushed out the wooden stool just in case, then headed back stage with the others.

"You were great out there!" Gray complimented.

"Really?" Sophie said coyly, only to have Veronica to start gagging at the sight of it all.

"Definitely."

"Grayson, you're up!"

Immediately, the sophomore walked onto stage once he heard his name called from Marley. He brushed off his button-down, adjusted the mic stand, then grabbed hold of it with his left hand, his right holding on to the actual mic.

"I'm Grayson Pierce-Lopez and I'll be auditioning with a piano only rendition of 'All That Matters' by _Justin Bieber_."

**Gray:**  
_**Oh whoa**_

A blink later, the pianist played a chord cuing Gray to start singing and scatting, something he decided to add to make this audition piece his own.

**_Oh oh, just as sure as the stars in the sky_**  
**_I need you to show me the light_**  
**_Not just for the meanwhile, for a long long time_**  
**_Better believe it_**

"Wow." Sophie said in awe, watching Gray like a fat kid with his cake. Veronica only continued to fake gag at her friend's interest in her brother while everyone else seemed to be enjoying the performance thus far.

**_Uh oh, whenever you're not in my presence_**  
**_It feels like I'm missing my blessings, yeah_**  
**_So I sleep through the daylight, stay awake all night_**  
**_'Til you back again, oh, yeah, yeah_**

**_You think I'm biased_**  
**_To my significant other_**  
**_You hit it right on the head_**  
**_Only been missing my lover_**  
**_Got a whole lotta texts on my phone and I don't reply_**  
**_The next eight bars tell you why_**

During the first verse, Gray's soulful tenor took on a husky vibrato while he sung in his lower register. As he made it to his mid-register, the vibrato was dropped, allowing everyone to hear more of his clear, warm, and strong voice.

**_You're all that matters to me, yeah yeah_**  
**_Ain't worried about nobody else_**  
**_If I ain't with you, I ain't myself_**  
**_You make me complete_**  
**_You're all that matters to me, yeah, yeah,_**  
**_What's a king bed without a queen_**  
**_There ain't no "I" in team_**  
**_You make me complete_**  
**_You're all that matters to me_**

**_Oh, oh, no  
_****_You're all that matters to me, yeah  
_****_Oh, oh  
_**

Gray sung through the chorus with a confident smile and stage presence, knowing that he made this audition piece his bitch as he executed a few ad-libs and riffs he came up with at the end. He bowed at the applause of the group of five that were judging the students, and knew that the other students had cheered him on too. Even Veronica and Carly weren't too proud to add a few claps in.

"Amazing, Grayson!" Daniel said with two thumbs up.

"Thanks!" He replied. Gray waved goodbye to everyone, then exited stage left to join up with the rest of the gang. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done."

Veronica scoffed. "Please, my audition kicked ass!"

"I don't know, your brother killed it!" Sophie chimed in, shrugging her shoulders as she was on the receiving end of Veronica's glare.

"Told you." Gray sang-song teasingly, casually slinging his arm across Sophie.

* * *

"My name is Charles Abrams, and I'll be singing 'Home' by _Phillip Phillips_." He introduced formally, taking a seat on the wooden stool.

_**Charlie:**_  
_**Hold on to me as we go**_  
_**As we roll down this unfamiliar road**_  
_**And although this wave is stringing us along**_

_**Just know you're not alone**_  
_**'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home**_

What differentiated his tenor from Gray and Eli was that his was very calm and refreshing with a bit of a country/folk twang to it, so his voice didn't sound out of place. His blue eyes were closed as he swayed gently to the acoustic guitar. It was a great change of pace.

_**Settle down, it'll all be clear**_  
_**Don't pay no mind to the demons  
**__**They fill you with fear  
**__**The trouble, it might drag you down  
**__**If you get lost, you can always be found**_

Finally opening up his eyes, he turned to the gang, his eyes glued to on his closest friends. He matched their smiles as he continued singing to them for a bit, before turning back to face everyone at the table.

Eli had turned to Carly while Charlie was still on stage singing. "Sorry, for lashing out earlier."

"It's okay." Carly reassured, sharing a fist-pump with Eli.

_**Just know you're not alone**_  
_**'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home**_

_**Ooo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo, Oo-oo-oo-oo  
Ooo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo, Oo-oo **_

Charlie's audition may have been the shortest, but that didn't mean it lacked the talent and potential the others had shown as well. Like the others, his audition was well received from everyone present.

"Great job, Charlie!" Daniel commended his cousin like the rest. .

* * *

"And last but not least, Carly!"

The junior girl sighed at the sound of name being called by her mother, the biggest and one of the toughest critics Carly has ever learned to deal with. She hadn't sung to or for her mother in years. Like removing a bandage, Carly didn't hesitate and marched right out there to get it over with.

"I'm Carly Hudson and I'll be singing 'If I Ain't Got You' by _Alicia Keys_."

With her hands grasped on the mic and the stand, Carly nodded to the pianist to start the R&amp;B intro.

**Carly:**  
_**Some people live for the fortune**_  
_**Some people live just for the fame**_  
_**Some people live for the power, yeah**_  
_**Some people live just to play the game**_

Carly closed her eyes as she started singing. Unlike both Veronica and Sophie, Carly was an alto; her smoky voice being very husky, round, and mature for a girl her age.

_**Some people think that the physical things**_  
_**Define what's within**_  
_**And I've been there before**_  
_**But that life's a bore**_  
_**So full of the superficial**_

Carly opened her eyes as she became more comfortable with the audition, gently rocking back and forth before she slowly started to back away from the stand. She almost laughed at the sight of everyone backstage, who were waving their cellphones in the air as if it were a concert. She even looked Bree in the eye, directing the last few lyrics of the second-half of the first verse right in her face.

_**Some people want it all**_  
_**But I don't want nothing at all**_  
_**If it ain't you baby**_  
_**If I ain't got you baby**_  
_**Some people want diamond rings**_  
_**Some just want everything**_  
_**But everything means nothing**_  
_**If I ain't got you, yeah**_

And though Carly was an alto, her vocal range allowed her to be able to hit a few of the high notes in the chorus. Carly even casually paced around, after letting go of the stand in her left hand, pointing in the vague direction of the adults that were watching her as she sang through the chorus.

Rachel immediately shot up, only to sit right back down once the others shot her a questioning look and glare, while Carly silently laughed to herself.

"Well, this was boring." Bree said, before she got up and left once the applause had simmered down. Both Daniel and Beth shook their heads in disappointment while Marley and Rachel seemed confused.

"You were good!" Rachel smiled brightly to her daughter.

"Thanks." Carly smiled back, only hers was much more forced and nervous.

"Guys, come on out!" Marley yelled for the others, who all lined up against Carly. "You were all great."

"You all have your own strengths and weaknesses, and there's a lot more potential here than I originally thought." Beth added.

"I just wish you guys were around when I was high-school trying to get Glee up and running."

Veronica chuckled to herself. "No kidding."

"Hm?" Sophie asked.

"It was nothing, just a stupid inside joke between Rae and me."

"You guys aren't perfect but it's real. You guys have a lot of heart like we did. We can feel it. We can see it. We can hear it. You guys will be great." Rachel continued with a proud smile and an approving nod.

"This'll be fun, I can't wait to work with you guys!" Beth said clapped her hands and held them together, with an eager and enthusiastic smile.

The six students on stage all glanced between themselves with proud looks and smiles as well. Six very different people, six very different voices coming together in one club: Glee.

Maybe Carly was wrong. Maybe this time would be different after all...

* * *

**Endnote: I told you all it was longer! Let me know what you think of length, because I can size it all down if you guys prefer. **

**How'd I do? Did you like the characters? Were they portrayed well or should I just give up now? And how about the storylines? How does Veronica know Charlotte? And how well did she know Daniel? And why does everyone seem to remember the new girl Anabelle if she's never been to Ohio? Will Melody get a second chance with Gav? And what's Eli's deal? Or Rae's deal? So many questions left unanswered, so much more to cover.**

**For the characters that didn't get much coverage/weren't featured at all, do not worry, I definitely plan on tackling that in the next chapter. ;)**

**Anyway, I hope you all had wonderful holidays with your family and I wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)**

* * *

**Songs Featured:  
"One Pom Pom or Another" by Jonas Brothers / One Direction, mashed up by Earlvin14 (his mashups are gold!), performed by the Cheerios**

**A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke, performed by Veronica**

**I Don't Want To Be (acoustic, piano only) by Gavin DeGraw, performed by Eli**

**Titanium by David Guetta ft. Sia, performed by Sophie**

**All That Matters by Justin Bieber (Somo cover), performed by Gray**

**Home by Phillip Phillips (Shane Harper cover), performed by Charlie**

**If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys (Lauren Jauregui cover), performed by Carly**


End file.
